Total Drama: Take One
by MediocreSalesman
Summary: What if I told you that, before Total Drama Island, Chris had tried out the idea beforehand, with 22 different contestants? What was this season like? How did it change our favourite host? Why wasn't it aired? These questions may be answered, only on Total! Drama! Island! (Take One!)
1. Episode 1 (pt1)

"Yo," Chris said, leaping in front of the camera. He looked very much as he usually did, except this time, instead of a well-fitting, long-sleeve shirt, he wore a tight, navy t-shirt, that clung to his torso, and helped to emphasise his physique, and show off his shark tooth necklace. "Chris McLean here, about to write television history." He stepped back, and the camera panned out to reveal he was standing on a creaky old dock in front of an underwhelmingly bland island. It cut to shots of the camp, the island and its wildlife as Chris began his voiceover, "I have gathered 22 teens, and over the course of a summer, where they'd usually be partying, meeting friends, and relaxing - though that might be unlikely for a few of them," he laughed, "I will be setting them against each other in physically draining challenges and mentally draining conditions, all the while they'll be competing against each other and voting each other off one by one, until, eventually, when their summers are all over and wasted, one of them will be crowned as the winner, and will win $100,000, and insane bragging rights over everyone else."

The camera cut back to Chris on the dock, "So, why don't we meet them?"

"Okay, cut!" came a voice from behind the camera, and Chris breathed out heavily. Several interns rushed onto the dock, and pampered him, applying extra make-up and hair gel and one brought a lint roller, and began hurriedly rolling it all over Chris' shirt. Chef Hatchet also wandered toward him, a newspaper under one arm. The interns paid him no notice.

"This better work, Chef." Chris sighed, "I cannot take another year on the ice dancing circuit."

"I hear ya." Chef nodded.

Chris nodded too, "Good thing I can always fall back on reality TV. The gift that keeps on giving, and refuses to die." They both laughed at this, and the producers motioned that they were ready to continue. Chris gazed off into the distance and caught a glimpse of the first of twenty two yachts that would bring his teenage victims to him. "Okay, Chef, get back to the kitchen. I've got a show to host." Chef shrugged, and nodded appreciatively, walking back to the island at his own pace. "Our first contestant!" Chris announced, as the boat pulled up to the rickety pier.

On the boat stood a tan girl, with defined, pretty features, but an indifferent expression. She wore a black, long-sleeve v-neck shirt, and a red skirt. She had jet black, wavy hair that descended to her shoulders. She flicked a strand away from her face with a jerk of her neck, and folded her arms. "Here comes Bella." Chris called, as she walked down the gangplank onto the dock, "How was the trip?"

"Well," she began, trying to find her footing on the rotten wood, "I actually have some minor- Woah!" she yelped, as she tripped over, and landed face first on the wood, "Ugh…"

"Yeah, you'll get used to it." Chris smiled, genuinely, and offered her a hand to help her up. Bella looked up at him, and huffed, standing up herself and brushing herself off. "Alright then." Chris said, offended, "Hopefully the other contestants have some class… Or at least manners." Bella shrugged.

The next boat arrived, carrying a well-dressed, Chinese boy, wearing a long-sleeved, navy striped polo top, and khakis. His hair was cut short and somewhat spiky, and he wore stylish, black glasses, not too thick but also clearly not too expensive. "Meet Clive!" Chris announced, turning to Bella, who seemed entirely unbothered.

Clive stepped off the boat waving, and when he realised there were only two people on the dock, he stopped, "Hey Chris."

"Hi, Clive. Say hello to Bella," Chris motioned to her, and Bella rolled her eyes and waved, "She's fun."

"I can tell…" Clive muttered, sharing a smirk with the host, before walking over to stand next to her, as she made a show of not looking at him.

The next boat arrived swiftly, and a short, slightly overweight, square-headed boy wearing a grey t-shirt and jeans sat on the guardrail, smiling, and pretending like he was going to fall off. Chris' eyes widened, "Hey! Elijah! Don't do that! Don't fall!"

Elijah raised an eyebrow, "I'm not gonna!" And with that, he hopped back onto the boat, and headed toward the host, "What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is you getting injured? You know? Insurance isn't cheap you know." Chris looked at him angrily, "Plus, we're booked for like 25 episodes, and if you get injured, and drop out, we've got like one extra episode left?"

"Oh… And?"

"Go stand with them."

"Cool, hey guys!" Elijah said, joyfully trotting over to Bella and Clive. Clive high-fived him, and Bella continued ignoring them.

"What's her problem?" Elijah whispered to Clive. He shrugged.

"Next up," Chris announced, "Lorelei!" Sure enough, a curvy, dark-haired, pale-skinned girl stood on the boat, glaring out across the dock. Chris looked back worriedly at the three contestants already present. None of them seemed overly concerned, and he turned back. She was wearing a white cotton blouse and jean shorts, and had her hands on the rail, leaning over, peering at her peers on the pier. As she drew closer, she seemed to catch herself, and started smiling at them. As she stepped off, she called out to them, "Hey guys. Ooh, love your outfit girl."

Bella seemed to perk up, "Um, thanks?"

"No problem, girl." Lorelei laughed.

"Hey, girl!" Elijah offered, as she walked past.

"Ugh, as if," she replied.

"Wow, thy conceitedness knows no bounds, your highness!" he said, somewhat offended, before mockingly bowing. Clive almost burst out laughing, and had to turn away.

Lorelei glared daggers into Clive's back, "Yeah… Whatever." she ended the conversation, with a flick of her long, black hair,

"Next up," Chris announced, "It's… Louise!"

"Oh my God! Hi Chris!" came the shrill cry from the short, Asian girl on the boat, who was presumably Louise. She squealed, and shook in her uggs. She was also wearing a white knit jumper and skinny jeans, and was holding her hands right beneath her chin, jumping around and grinning wildly. As the boat arrived she practically tumbled down the gangplank onto the dock, landing directly in front of Chris. "Oh my God, Chris, I loved you on _Ice Dancing with the Semi Famous_. I voted for you every week! It's a shame that olympic curler beat you. And that sculptor. And that-"

"Okay, Louise, I don't need to be reminded of who beat me and where I came," Chris chuckled nervously, "for one, it was so rigged, and two, you've got other people to meet."

"Oh, duh," she lightly slapped herself on the forehead, and giggled, "Hey fellow campers."

"Hey Louise!" Clive waved. Elijah smiled, yet the other two girls paid no attention, Lorelei filing her nails, and Bella just continuing to be aloof.

"Looks like I found the fun crowd," Louise beamed, skipping over to Clive and Elijah. She pointed to Clive's face, "Cool glasses… How blind are you?"

"Well, I'm not blind, I just kinda need them to see better…" Clive explained, as Louise slowly removed them from his face and put them on.

"Whoa… So much more than kinda need them I see…" she marvelled. Clive blushed.

The next camper to arrive was a very tall blonde boy, with medium length hair that flew behind him as he faced over the railing, smiling, content. As the boat pulled to a stop he gradually slipped out of this trance, and grinned at the people on the dock. He was wearing a red tank top and brown cargo shorts, with seemingly military boots on his feet. He leaped over the rail with a 'Hup!' and landed safely on the dock, before striking a superman pose, hands on hips. "Welcome Ivan!" Chris announced.

"Hello competitors!" Ivan said, in a hearty Eastern European accent, "I am looking forward to competition and playing against you."

"Hey, dude," Elijah said, "I am looking forward to losing to you."

"Then we are in agreement, yes?" Ivan beamed.

"I wouldn't mind losing to him," Lorelei gawked. Bella looked up, and her eyes widened. She nodded along in agreement.

"Excuse me," came an indignant voice from the boat.

"Did your boat have two people Ivan?" Chris asked, "That's not supposed to happen…"

"Not when I checked," Ivan replied, "but it was lazy check."

"No, I arrived when you were all busy staring at Rasputin over there," a short, raven-haired girl stepped out onto the boat. She was wearing a white t-shirt with a faded flower decal that was too big and so hung over one shoulder, denim short shorts and wedges.

"I dislike that sentiment," Ivan said, almost tearfully.

"Boo hoo," she snapped, "you've got enough attention."

"Yeah, and you clearly deserve all our attention don't you." Elijah said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

She merely smiled, "I guess I do. Ruby here, remember it."

"Not likely, Sapphire," Elijah snorted.

She grimaced, then proceeded onto the dock. She scanned the group, and made eye contact with Bella, giving her a look that seemed to say _Boys, ugh, am I right?_ Bella nodded slightly, and cracked a slight smile. Ruby walked over to stand by her.

"Here's someone else that deserves attention… Maybe…" Chris finally spoke up, "The next contestant to arrive is Oswald!"

"What kind of name is Oswald?" Elijah whispered to Clive.

"What's up guys!" shouted an excitable young African-American boy, leaning over the rail.

"C'mon, guys, what's with you guys, the rail, and potential lawsuits?" Chris complained.

"Oswald in the house!" he continued, oblivious, two fists in the air. When the boat stopped, he slid down the gangplank and stood grinning broadly, enticing smiles from many of the other contestants too. He wore a grey unzipped hoodie over a black t-shirt with jeans and sneakers. "How's it going, Chris?"

"Erm, yeah, Oswald. Good. Meet your fellow competitors, learn some names, mingle."

"Don't need to tell me twice," he smiled, strutting over, and greeting Clive, Louise and Elijah, while haphazardly waving in the directions of Bella, Lorelei, and Ruby, who seemed rather nonplussed.

"Jeez, tough crowd from the girls," Chris told the camera

"What am I then?" Louise complained, happening to overhear.

"Um... Our next arrival is Edwin." Chris avoided the question with practiced ease, as one would expect from a veteran TV host. Louise threw up her hands, and turned back to the guys, who nodded along, and shrugged.

A pale white boy with similarly white hair enthusiastically leapt off the boat, and smiled so wide, it seemed as if it would rip his face apart. His outfit was all white too, a white, long-sleeve dress shirt, white trousers and white trainers. "Wow… Chris… Hey…" he started hyperventilating, and falling over, before starting, and composing himself, "Um… Sweet island."

"Thanks Edwin," Chris smiled, "I made it myself."

Edwin was silent for a beat, before he realised it was all a joke, "Oh… haha!" he laughed, genuinely, "I get it. Nice one," he congratulated Chris before bounding over to join the ever-growing group of contestants. "You're a tall guy…" he said in wonder to Ivan.

"I have been told that," he replied, with a certain pride in his height.

"Neat accent too."

"Thanks."

"Hey everyone else, I need names." Edwin turned to the rest of the group.

"Hi!" Louise burst in front of the others, "I'm Louise, this is Elijah, Oswald, and Clive. You've met Ivan, and," she gestured to the three girls standing away from the rest of the group, of whom only Ruby seemed to be listening in to the conversation, "those are Ruby, Lorelei and… I forget, what's your name?"

"Bella…" Bella said, looking down her nose at them.

"Or, I have a better word also beginning with b…" Louise said, turning back to Edwin.

"Hey! We're marketing this as a kids' show? Please?" Chris quickly interrupted, saving the show's PG rating.

"Oh, alright," Louise sighed, but as she locked eyes with Edwin, they both burst into a fit of giggles.

"Ahem… Next up, Ophelia," Chris turned back to the camera, as a pasty white girl, with a shock of black hair with a blue streak down the fringe stepped off the boat wearing large, clunky boots that made a banging sound with every step she took, catching everyone else's attention. They all seemed to stare at her, as if they'd seen nothing like her before. She was also wearing a black corset and a black skirt, lined with teal, over black fishnet stockings. She folded her arms, her hands covered with fingerless, elbow-length black gloves, and some studded bracelets. She also wore a black choker which featured a large metal stud in the shape of a diamond on the front of her neck. She wore far too much black eyeshadow - to the extent that her piercing blue eyes were barely visible - and black lipstick.

"Woah…" Oswald muttered.

"What you looking at?" she snapped, "Huh?"

"Are you saying you don't want people looking at you? Dressed like that?" Elijah asked.

"Are you saying you want me to shove my fist down your throat?" she growled.

"... No…" Elijah answered meekly.

"Alright." Ophelia huffed, walking over to the group, then stopping a good few feet away, and dangling her legs over the dock, staring down into the water.

"... Neat," Oswald murmured.

"Here comes Indira!" Chris yelled over to the group, breaking the lull of silence that had broken out. The girl who stepped out onto the bow of the boat was tall and tan, with long, curly, brown hair that cascaded to her shoulder, and a large grin beneath an equally large nose. She wore a white shirt with faded flowers on it that was maybe a size too small, exposing her midriff, jeans that stopped halfway down her calves, and black high tops. She strode purposely down the gangplank, before tripping and falling flat on her face at the bottom. She got up and looked around sheepishly, to the group of campers staring at her, "Oops," she smiled, before hopping right back up, "Hey Chris, nice floor you got."

"Thanks, it's vintage."

"Of course." Indira smiled, bounding off to join the others. She stopped behind Ophelia, and just looked down over her, leaning over her head. Ophelia looked back, and jumped. Straight off the dock. "Oops," Indira muttered, shocked, looking over the edge.

"Are you kidding me?" Ophelia screeched when she resurfaced, "Seriously? What was that?"  
"I said oops…" Indira said, even quieter than before, reaching out a helping hand. Ophelia reluctantly took it, and Indira hauled her up. Ophelia reached dry pier, and Indira stepped back, as she stood, dripping and fuming.

"Hey if you're lucky, she'll evaporate all the water off of her being that angry. You can practically see the smoke." Clive observed. Ophelia whipped round to him, and fumed even more.

"You better hope so," she threatened, before sitting back on the edge and ignoring them all again. Elijah, Clive, Oswald and Ruby all gave Indira high-fives, while nervously watching Ophelia's back.

"Oh? The boat? What could it possibly bring us now?" Chris asked rhetorically, with more than a hint of sarcasm. What, or rather, who it was bringing was a fairly tall boy with short brown hair, gelled upwards at the front. He wore a blue and white checkered shirt, with the long sleeves rolled up to the elbows, with ripped green trousers and solid walking boots.

"Morning," he called out from the bow, waving lazily from his position, arms folded, leaning on the rail.

"Morning!" Edwin called back. Others waved, most seemed either engaged in their own conversations, and some just didn't care, and were waiting for everyone else to arrive.

"Tough crowd," he said, stepping off, "Hey Chris," he nodded to the host.

"Gabriel, dude, welcome. Make yourself at home."

"Oh you don't want me to do that, my home's a mess."

"You know what I meant."

"I did, yeah, thanks." he smirked, and walked over to the group, standing next to Bella, who shuffled away slightly, "Hi?" he tried.

"No." she replied.

"Cool, you do you."

"Excuse me?"

"I said, you do you?"

She looked confused for a second, before rolling her eyes, "Sure, I'll do me. You won't like it though."

"Cool." he shrugged. She turned and looked at him angrily.

"12 down, 10 to go!" Chris announced, "Who will be the next to board this dock? And will it take the weight? Time to find out… Here they come."

The next boat was just arriving, with a hispanic girl riding on the front. She was obviously posing hard, and was wearing a white lace crop top and denim shorts that one would probably consider only just enough, with strappy sandals that crept up her ankle, "Hello boys!" she called out blowing kisses while leaning as far over the edge as she could.

"Hello Ysabel!" Chris answered, "Come on down to the dock."

"With pleasure," she said, biting her lip and scanning the crowd. She walked down the plank, hips swaying, and approached Ivan, "And a special hello to you champ." she smiled, seductively.

"Hello to you too lady," he smiled, mostly oblivious, as many of the other boys could barely stop themselves drooling. The rest of the girls raised an eyebrow, looking at each other in disbelief.

"Hey, if the strategy works," Ruby shrugged, while sharing a look with Lorelei.

"This isn't a strategy sweetie," Ysabel purred, turning, "I'm just here for a good time, you get me? I'm not playing games."

"Uh, yes you are," Gabriel interrupted, unfazed, leaning casually against a convenient wooden pole, "we're all here to play the game."

"Now, now boy," she pouted, "is that really a good attitude to have?" she walked up to him, slinging her arms over his shoulders, and leaning backwards. He seemed to have no trouble holding her weight up.

He shrugged, "We'll see."

Ysabel frowned and stood up properly, before turning with an indignant, "Hm." before moving back to the crowd of boys that had formed a semicircle around her.

Edwin turned to Gabriel as Ysabel walked past him, "Lucky." He merely raised an eyebrow in response.

The next boat arrived then, and another girl stepped out. This one was a short, Indian girl, with hair tied back into one large braid down her back. She wore a pink halter top and a knee-length denim skirt, accompanied with basic black heels. "Hey guys!" she waved.

"Sabrina, welcome," Chris greeted her as she descended, "how was it? Good trip?"

"Sure, but there was nowhere near enough time to finish the film. How will I ever know what happens to the Titanic?"

"Joking, trying too hard to be funny? You'll fit right in here!" Chris told her.

"Ouch…" Sabrina said, "Must be why they chose you to host."

"Alright, get over there," Chris grumbled.

"Seems I may have struck a nerve," she muttered, to generally anyone as she passed them, heading to the back of the pack.

"Don't worry about him," Elijah said, "he didn't appreciate mine either." Louise and Oswald also nodded along.

"Ironic." she replied.

"If we're done," Chris shouted to the group at the back, "It's time to meet the newest guy, Nate." A short, white boy with a yellow t-shirt depicting a flame jumped over the gangplank and onto the dock, stumbling, and only just avoiding falling off the edge.

"Whoa…" he smiled, "I was sure that was gonna be easy."

"You were wrong," Chris smiled, "but sadly for the cameras and the show, not wrong enough."

"I get it," Nate laughed a forced, fake laugh, "I see what you're going for Chris."

"And when you're done buttering me up, you can meet the other contestants."  
"Jeez, just saying I found that funny, dog." he mumbled. He strutted his way into the crowd, though they paid him little notice.

Sabrina pretended to shield her eyes, "Argh, I'm going blind."

"Huh?" Nate asked.

"Your… Shirt..." she managed, feigning pain, "It's… Too bright!"

"Want me to take it off?" he grinned.

She immediately stood bolt upright, "Oh God, no. Are you serious?"

Nate just kept grinning, "Uh, yeah? Duh?" he said, in a manner that at least suggested he was being serious.

A boat pulled in yet again, and now, an Asian boy stood at the prow, with short, spiky black hair, and a basic red shirt and jeans combo on. He smiled warmly out at the group, and waved. He calmly strolled off the boat, and walked up to Chris, reaching out to shake his hand, "Pleasure, Chris. Ajay."

"Yeah, I know Ajay."

"Oh, I'm sure you did, but they didn't." he smiled out at the other teens, who all rolled their eyes.

"Well, well played, Ajay. Go and make friends." Chris smiled, still shaking his hand.

"Don't need to tell me twice," he smiled, letting go of Chris' hand, and heading away.

"You're my favourite!" Chris called after him. A clamour picked up among the groups, voicing their dissent.

"I, for one, feel personally attacked," Sabrina said, clutching her chest.

"Now that I'm tearing them apart slowly but surely," Chris said to the camera, but making sure he was loud enough for everyone to hear, "it's about time we get to the last six arrivals, and then set out the camp rules."

The 17th arrival, or sixth last, was a chubby, white boy with a shaggy mop of greasy brown hair. He smiled innocently, as if unaware of his destination, and where he'd been, like the only thing in this world was this whimsical boat ride. A few moments after the boat had stopped, he shook himself out of the trance. He wore a dark blue t-shirt with a picture of a lightning bolt on it, and dirty green shorts, with white trainers stained with brown. "Hey." he mumbled as he disembarked, waving halfheartedly to the group.

"This is Ronald." Chris explained.

"I am Ronald." Ronald echoed.

"What, did he win a contest to appear on TV?" Gabriel said snarkily, leaning in to Bella so only she could hear.

"We all did, numbskull." she explained, exasperated.

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, but that doesn't make it clever. Or funny."

"Glad to figure out where you stand."

"Excuse me."

"I'm beginning to think you don't appreciate my jokes, or me talking to you."

"Wow, there is a brain in there."

"Ugh, how cliche," he smiled, turning away from her. She fumed silently at the back of his head.

Ronald slowly lumbered down the dock, sort of greeting the contenders, in his own way. He smiled at Gabriel as he passed, and Gabriel smiled and nodded back. "Two face." Bella coughed.

Gabriel's eye twitched, but in the end, he paid no attention.

Ronald stopped next to the gang that had already formed out of Louise, Oswald, Elijah, Clive and Edwin, with Ivan kind of watching the conversation from the outside. "Hi, I'm Ronald." he said.

"Cool," Louise smiled, "welcome, dude."

"Neat," Ronald grinned.

"Now we're down to the final five arrivals," Chris called out, as another boat arrived, "and here is one of them: Lisa."

Lisa was a short girl, sporting hair held back in a ponytail that trailed down her back. She wore denim overalls over a yellow long-sleeve top. She also had a pair of thick glasses on and what many would call 'too much lipstick'. "Hey!" She called out from the boat, waving enthusiastically over the railing. She daintily stepped down the gangplank, and stood next to Chris, waiting for him to say something, gazing at the other contestants, who stared back, from their various positions: Ophelia sitting on the dock, the 'gang' in a cluster, Lorelei and Ruby stood on one side, Gabriel and Bella leaning on a pole on the other side, and Indira, Sabrina, Nate, Ajay and Ysabel interspersed between, Ysabel enjoying the attention she was receiving from Nate, and the other three milling around, listening in to conversations and occasionally slipping a word in edgeways.

"So, Chris," Lisa mumbled, growing tired of waiting, "are you gonna introduce me?"

"Um, I did? When you arrived?"

"Oh, silly me," she smiled, shuffling over, and sitting down, legs crossed, somewhat in the middle of the deck.

Gabriel looked down at her, then at Bella, who mouthed _Talk to her maybe?_

 _No, you do it!_ He mouthed back.

 _Make me._ She retorted. He sighed, and looked down, touching her back lightly with his boot.

"Hey, what's your name?"

Lisa's face lit up, and she shot up, almost pressing herself against Gabriel, "Hi! I'm Lisa, what's your name?"

The sudden burst of energy caught her by surprise, "I'm Gabriel. Have you met Bella?"

Bella did a surprised double take, glaring at Gabriel for a second, before looking at Lisa and smiling, "Hi, Lisa, I'm Bella."

"You two are so cool, standing together, all aloof and mysterious." Lisa laughed.

"Oh, no she so ain't cool," Gabriel smiled, before Bella could get a word in.

"Oh, she's just basking in your shadow?"

"Hey, no-"

"Oh, I know, is it that obvious?" Gabriel grinned, shooting a smug sideways glance at Bella, before engaging Lisa in a conversation all of their own. Bella stood fuming even more.

The next boat then arrived, with a muscular guy, wearing a light blue tank top which said _Push it_ and flapping, loose, white shorts. His hair was cut into a faux hawk, and he wore a pair of sunglasses. He stood, bouncing slightly on his heels, as if he was getting pumped for a race, or a sports game.

"This, is Lucas!" Chris announced, as he raced down the gangplank.

"Sup." he nodded.

"Sup with you," Ysabel half-smiled. Lucas began strutting towards her. Bella gagged as he strode past, and many other just stared in bemusement. The two met and Ysabel pushed Nate to the side, who knocked into Ivan, who fell backwards, surprised as he hadn't noticed the arrival, into Louise, who stumbled back into Ruby, who subsequently fell into the lake.

"Sorry!" Louise said, quickly. Everyone rushed to the water's edge save Ophelia, Gabriel and Bella. Ysabel glanced at Lucas and smirked, as he smirked back, though a little disappointed they had been interrupted.

"No way, we got two in the lake already?" Chris doubled over laughing, "Are you serious, this is great!"

Ruby clambered out of the water, "I beg to differ, McLean!"

"When we get the ratings numbers in, you'll agree." He smiled, "I'm gonna be back on top, and dragging you lot with me, for better or worse."

"Neat…" Elijah said, "I always wanted someone to use me to get famous."

Chris caught himself, "Hey, this isn't what this is about, guys. It's about the bonds you guys form. And don't form for that matter."

Just as Chris was beginning to lose control, the next boat arrived, carrying a beautiful young girl, with her light brown hair flowing in the wind behind her. She wore a flowing dress covered with a floral pattern, and sandals on her feet. She smiled sweetly and waved down at the group. She stepped gracefully down onto the dock, and only smiled the more as she arrived, "Wow."

"This is Lee," Chris told the others.

"Hi," she chimed.

"Hello," Gabriel muttered. Bella elbowed him, "Ouch."

"Hey," Lee said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear as she approached him.

"I'm Gabriel." he smiled.

"Lee."

"I know."

"Of course," she giggled.

"Get a room." Bella grumbled.

"Jealous?" he remarked.

"Shut up, loser."

"Cool."

The penultimate boat arrived, carrying the penultimate contestant. He was a short boy wearing a backwards baseball cap, a plain white t-shirt and jean shorts. Overall, his look looked as if he was trying really hard to seem as casual as possible, ironically. "Hey, guys. Josh." he said, pointing two thumbs at himself.

"Hey Josh," Chris smiled, "now get off the boat so we can bring the last contestant in and start this contest!"

"Don't mind if I do," he laughed, scanning the crowd. Departing the boat, he walked directly to Bella, "Hey. Josh."

"Neat line," she said, "so simple yet so enticing."

"Really?"

"No, jog on."

He sniffed indignantly, and jogged on. Gabriel laughed at her, "Ooh, the one chance you had for love on this island, gone. Like a candle in the wind."

"Trust me, I'll have plenty of chances."

"Have you talked to anyone besides me since arriving?"

"I… That's not…"

"Cool."

Josh continued into the group, stopping by Lorelei, "Hey. Josh."

"Oh, are you? That's so cool."

"Really?"

Lorelei only shook her head. Josh crossed his arms, and stood in silence. He looked over at Sabrina, "Hey."

"I don't think so."

"Here it is!" Chris shouted, "The final boat! Who is the last contestant?"

The final contestant, as it happened, was a girl called Sascia. She was a small, lithe girl with curly hair that cascaded down to her shoulders. She wore a simple white dress and sensible black shoes. Smiling she descended, and became the final contestant to reach the docks, "Hope I'm not too late," she laughed.

"Close enough," Chris shrugged, looking at his watch, "but, the important thing, is that you are all here. All twenty-two contestants on TV's newest, hottest reality show! Total! Drama! Island!"

"Neat." Sabrina said.

"Now, to commemorate your arriving, how about a group photo on the end of the dock?"

With a little grumbling, the group shuffled over to the end. Edwin, Oswald and Louise crouched or sat at the front, and Elijah, Sabrina, Ronald and Indira stood behind them. Ruby, Lorelei, Ophelia, Gabriel and Bella filtered around the edges and refused to stray any closer to the middle. Ysabel, surrounded by Lucas, Josh and Nate, posed flirtatiously to the left, and Lisa, Ajay, Sascia and Lee stood on the right, leaving Ivan standing, arms stretched, behind the whole group. Chris took the photo, and waited just a few seconds. "We got a problem, Chris?" Ajay asked.

"No, no problem… Just… Kinda hoping the deck would break and you'd all fall in."

"Was me falling in not enough for you?" Ruby inquired, icily.

"Not quite. Ah, well, the deck's still holding so whatever. Follow me to the campgrounds and I'll explain it all."

The campgrounds was made up of an unlit campfire with eleven stumps set in two rows in front of it. The first eleven to arrive quickly took their seats, leaving the rest to stand. Chris strode out to the other side of the campfire and addressed them. "Here is the general campgrounds. Behind you, as you saw as you came in, are the cabins, one for one team, split into boys and girls rooms, and an identical one for the other team."

"Are the boys, girls splits compulsory?" Josh asked, trying to smile cheekily.

"Yes." Chris said sternly. Josh laughed sheepishly and shrunk into himself, as twenty-one pairs of eyes were suddenly upon him, judging him mercilessly. "If I can continue, your two teams, which have already been chosen, will compete against each other in our specially designed challenges, and after these challenges, one team will lose. The losing team will vote out one player, and they will be forced to leave the island. And will be unable to return. Ever." Some of the campers began to nervously look around at each other. "Before we reveal the teams, there is just one more thing to mention," Chris said. And, by the power of television magic, he was then in the woods, standing next to an outhouse.

"This," he gestured to the outhouse, "is your confessional."

"No," Ruby said, "that's a toilet."

"It is both!" Chris said, smiling. Many of the others cringed, or gagged.

"Nice," Elijah said, sarcastically.

"You will be able to vent your personal feelings about your fellow competitors or the show in here, completely privately. I'm gonna give you ten minutes to use it, if you want, then you must be back at the campfire."

Gabriel immediately started walking away. "Hey, where are you going?" Bella called after him.

"I want a stump-seat this time!" he replied, "Plus, if I've got something to say, I think I'll just say it."

Many of the other contestants also began to disperse, without much to say, really.

 **Confessional**

Bella: You know who I don't like? Gabriel. He's so frustrating, and I've barely been here a few hours. I better not be on the same team as him.

Elijah: Yeah, this outhouse situation? Little smart, little gross. I'm probably still gonna use it loads though.

Ophelia: This bites.

 **End**

Back at the campfire, Chris was flanked by Chef Hatchet, carrying two rugs. "This," Chris began, "is my good friend, Chef Hatchet. He will be your cook for your time here, and will be taking challenges from time to time, if I can't or just don't want to." Chris and Chef shared a laugh, "Anyway, he's my partner in crime and is here to help me introduce the teams. First: Bella, Edwin, Gabriel, Ajay, Indira, Lisa, Louise, Ruby, Nate, Sascia and Clive. You guys are the Screaming Gophers!"

Chef tossed the green rug Indira's way, and she caught it with an "Oof." She unfurled it and revealed a minimalist decal of what must've been a gopher in a fighting stance.

 **Confessional**

Bella: Great.

 **End**

"Decent name, I'll take it," Gabriel shrugged, looking around at his teammates, as they all gathered around Indira and the rug, "what's up team?"

Nate looked around him, "I can deal with this."

Louise elbowed Edwin, "At least we're on the same team, eh?"

"Oh, yeah," Edwin grinned, "it's just a shame we don't have Oswald or Elijah."

"Aw, thanks!" Elijah said, forming a heart with his hands.

Gabriel pretended to gag. "For once, I agree." Bella said.

"For once? You've known me for an hour. That's really not much to go on."

"I'm sure we won't get on."

"It'll be your fault, but sure."

Lisa walked up to Indira, "Hey, guess we're teammates."

"Yeah, guess so," she grinned, "I'm Indira. Don't think we were formally introduced."

"Lisa." Lisa smiled, "We're gonna crush the others."

"Sure, we are," Indira laughed, genuinely.

"Now, everyone else already knows who they are, but just for the audience's sake, Ivan, Lee, Lorelei, Lucas, Elijah, Ophelia, Oswald, Ronald, Ysabel, Sabrina and Josh are… The Killer Bass!"

Chef tossed the red rug to Ivan, who caught it one-handed, "Da." he said, unfurling it, revealing a similarly minimalistic decal but this time of a rather angry looking fish.

"Cool. Fish. Badass." Elijah said.

"Better than a gopher," Oswald shrugged.

"Well, I think we look like a great team, isn't that right?" Lorelei said, smiling. No one replied.

"Thank God, we're on the same team, right Josh?" Ysabel said.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I wouldn't want to have to face you."

"Or would you?" she said, seductively.

"Um…" he squeaked.

"Now that you're all acquainted," Chris said, interrupting both teams' chatter, "I think it's about time for your first challenge. In a half hour, meet me on top of the cliff. And, you may wanna wear your swimsuits!" he added.

-A/N-

Hey, author here. Just testing the waters with this story here (Never written new characters or a TD competition yet - at least not well). Just gauging the interest, seeing if people would be interested in seeing more of this etc. Hope I didn't spend too much time on certain characters. Tell me your favourites, your least favourites, who you want to see go far, not so far, or even win? Not many people see this anyway, so I don't know why I bother but? This is why we try. Why we persevere. Yeet. Out.


	2. Episode 2 (pt2)

**Chapter 2**

As the half hour Chris had specified passed, all twenty two campers stood, split into their two teams, on top of a very high cliff overlooking the lake. Clive peered over the edge of the cliff, spying a small red circle in the lake at the bottom, "What do you guys think we're doing up here?"

"My guess," Ruby said, "is that there's only one way down for all of us."

"Yeah, that's the gist," Chris said, stepping through the crowds as the teens parted to let him past them, "your first challenge is to jump off the cliff and try to land in the safe area at the bottom."

"What makes the safe area so safe?" Oswald asked.

"I'm glad you asked. Outside of that little area are a... Few sharks. Man-eating sharks. Or woman-eating, they're not very picky."

"So, if we don't land there," Clive said, pointing out the safe zone, "we're swimming with sharks."

"Yep. Or, you can choose not to jump and take the losers way down the escalator back there. The team with the most jumpers will win a reward."

"Wait, there's an escalator?" Ysabel said, "And we all still had to walk up here? Why didn't I see it?"

"Why do you think we were late?" Chris chuckled. Chef presented an electric drill and activated it, laughing too.

"That was damn fast." Sabrina observed.

"Yes. Yes it was. So, which team wants to go first?" No one volunteered, "If no one volunteers, Chef will pick." Chris said.

"Is that meant to be a threat?" Sabrina inquired.

"Uh…" Chris stuttered.

"We'll go first!" Ruby piped up.

"We will?" Bella said, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yes, we will," Ruby smiled, "See you on the beach, children." And with that, she gracefully swan-dived off the cliff. Her team rushed to the cliff edge and watched as she fell, and fell, eventually landing dead centre of the safe area. She waved up to them, "Your turn now guys."

"Hey, Chef, mind getting the boat to help them get out of the water, y'know, without swimming through deadly shark territory?" Chris said.

Chef nodded, and took the escalator down, whistling all the way.

 **Confessional**

Ruby: I figured, if we do lose, and we do have to vote someone off, jumping will help me, and jumping first will really help me stand out.

Gabriel: So, Ruby's attempt to stay safe by going first seemed a good idea. Even if it was flimsy and transparent.

Nate: Wow, Ruby's so cool. Diving off first like that…

 **End**

"Alright, let's go." Gabriel said, clapping his hands together and running up to the edge, leaping off, again falling down and splashing down next to Ruby in the safe area. He looked back up at the cliff, then at Ruby, "Neat."

"Easier than you think, isn't it?" Ruby smirked.

"No, falling was just as easy as I thought. Very little effort really." he replied. She rolled her eyes. Then, out of the air, Nate landed right between them.

He fell beneath the surface, and quickly arose, squirting water out of his mouth, "Am I interrupting anything?" he asked, attempting with all his might to sound suave.

"Yeah, she wishes." Gabriel said.

"In your dreams," she snapped back.

"Oooh," Nate cooed.

 **Confessional**

Ruby: So, Gabriel's very, very annoying. But, he seems to know what he's doing. And you never know how valuable that could be in this sort of game.

 **End**

Back at the top of the cliff, the remaining eight gophers were beginning to fill with confidence. Save a couple. "Sorry," Ajay said, turning back to the escalator, "I can't do it. I… I've never been good with heights, I mean…"

"Hey, dude it's okay," Chris said, "you're only a chicken. A big, scaredy, chicken."

"Dude…" Ajay murmured.

"And that's why, as a quitter taking the escalator, you will have to wear this chicken hat for the rest of the day," he said, plopping said chicken hat on his head.

Ajay scowled, and turned back to the cliff for a second, before continuing down the escalator.

"It's okay, Ajay!" Indira yelled after him, "We understand."

"You're lucky all the psychos are already down there." Bella said under her breath.

"What did you say?" Lisa gasped, overhearing. Bella looked at her, then ran off the edge of the cliff. "Hey!" Lisa said indignantly, following after her, before skidding to a stop at the edge, "Oh my that's a long way down… I don't think I can…"

"Bawk bawk bawk!" Chris clucked, stepping towards her, "Do I hear another chicken?"

"Yes," Lisa snivelled, on the verge of tears, "I'll take the escalator."

Chris popped another chicken hat on her head, "See you later, chicken!"

 **Confessional**

Ajay: I think Chris may be taking it a little too far with all this chicken crap.

Lisa: I… I was upset enough about letting the team down… But Chris… That was just mean…

 **End**

At the base of the cliff, Nate, Ruby and Gabriel had just reached shore after Chef had brought them back with the boat. Gabriel immediately lay down, and began soaking in the sun and the warm sand.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ruby asked.

"Relaxing? We're done?" he replied.

"We're never done." she pouted.

At that moment, Bella hit the water, just a little shy of the circle, "Oh crap." she said, as fins started swirling around her, "Uh, little help?"

Nate looked at Chef, "Go on, get the boat."

"Nuh uh, boat's only for campers in the safe zone."

"Bella!" Nate called out, "You're gonna have to swim back!"

"You what?" she called back, angrily, violently swimming in circles, followed by three shark fins.

"Just swim in a straight line rather than circles!" Gabriel shouted.

Bella rolled her eyes, and then swam, full pelt, back to shore, barely avoiding the sharks, "Thanks for the help!" she looked around at the people lined up on the shore.

Gabriel, still lying down, raised his head, "Hey, you made it. Sweet."

"Whatever."

"Hey, guys…" came a dejected voice from the bottom of the escalator. Ajay stepped off.

"Whoa, what's with the hat, dude?" Nate stifled a laugh.

"And more importantly," Ruby scowled, "why are you taking the escalator and not jumping?"

"I… I've always been scared of heights… I couldn't do it. And… All quitters get a chicken hat."

"Tough, dude…" Gabriel shook his head, "Don't worry about it."

"What?" Ruby screeched, "This could cost us the challenge!"

"And then we vote out the chicken," he shrugged, "this just makes our job easier."

Ajay, whose worries were gone for a split-second, stood agape.

"That's cold brah," Nate said, somewhat in awe, somewhat scared.

"It's a game." Gabriel shrugged again.

 **Confessional**

Ajay: I understand voting me out for this… But saying it in front of me is just uncool…

 **End**

Back on top of the cliff, Chris was checking his watch impatiently, "Let's make a move Gophers. If you ain't gonna jump, grab a hat. I've got a bunch, I wasn't expecting much from ya…"

Edwin took a deep breath, "A-alright… Just like a diving board… Just dive… Louise can you go with me?"

Louise was hiding behind Ivan, "I don't think so."

"Please? For the team! And for me!"

She gulped, and stepped out from behind the massive boy, "O-okay… Let's do it." They grabbed each other's hands and took a long run-up, closing their eyes as they leapt. They screamed as they fell, and as the rest of the team watched.

"Okay… We can do this…" Clive said, somewhat unsure, "What could go wrong?"

"D'you want a list?" Indira said, snarkily.

"These things are tested rigorously, right Chris?"

Chris shrugged, "Interns did do the jump."

"And?"

"That's all I'm at liberty to say."

At the bottom, Edwin and Louise splashed down. As Louise rose above the water, she looked around, realising she landed in the safe zone, and Chef was bringing the boat out to her, "Yes! See Edwin! No problem you scaredy-cat!" She looked around for Edwin, who, as it turns out, had landed just on the other side of the rope.

"Uhh, Louise? The sharks are massing…" Three fins rose above the surface and began to inch their way towards him.

At this moment Chef arrived, "Alright girl, hop in."

"C'mon," she said, clambering on, "get in Ed."

"Nuh uh, not him. Boat's for people who can actually land in the safe zone."

"Can't you just pick me up here now?" Edwin squeaked, watching the fins approach.

Chef stared at him for a second, "No."

Edwin screamed, and launched himself out of the water, almost running along the surface to the shore. He arrived before Chef and the boat. "See Eddy," Louise laughed as she disembarked, "you didn't even need the boat."

"Gee, you're right, don't know why I ever wanted it…" he replied, his voice dripping with more sarcasm than one would think humanly possible.

Before Louise could retort, a voice came from behind as Lisa stepped off of the escalator, "I'm sorry guys, I couldn't do it…" she sniffed, on the verge of tears.

Ruby scowled for a second, but caught herself, and strode over to her, "Aww, that's okay don't worry, I'm sure we'll be fine."

"Yeah, you'll be fine," Ajay interrupted, "that hat makes you a target Lisa. I hope it was worth it. It wasn't for me."

"If you wanna go up and jump now, chicken-boy, you're welcome to," Bella sneered.

"I-uh… I'll shut up," he seceded.

Gabriel brought them out of the uncomfortable silence that had fallen, "I guess we'll see what happens. We don't know if we've lost yet."

Lisa seemed to perk up, "Okay, thanks guys. That does make me feel better."

Bella raised an eyebrow at Gabriel, as Nate blurted out, "Okay, who's left?"

Then Clive, Indira, and Sascia all splashed down in the safe zone, and came afloat whooping and hollering. Chef sighed as he started the boat and left to retrieve them.

"Congrats Gophers, you have 9 jumpers and only 2 chickens! That's better than I expected!" Chris called into a megaphone from the top, "Now, let's see if the Bass can beat that.

"Huh…" Gabriel muttered staring out over the water.

"What?" Lisa asked, trying to see what he was looking at, awkwardly pressing herself against him.

"I had no idea that one of them was on our team."

"Which one?"

"You know which one."

 **Confessional**

Bella: What's with Gabriel, flip-flopping about between people-pleaser and jerkwad? It's… disconcerting. That's your word of the day.

Lisa: I know I let my team down, but at least they stuck with me...I've been on worse teams… Much worse teams

Sascia: That was terrifying! I was so close to not jumping… Did you get good shots of that?

 **End**

At the top of the cliff, many of the Bass looked confident, "Alright? Is anyone actually considering not jumping?" Lorelei asked, glaring at the team. Although some shivered a little beneath her gaze, most returned the intensity, and stood raring to go. "That's what I thought, let's get going," she grinned, "kick us off big guy."

"With pleasure," Lucas smirked.

"I believe she refers to me." Ivan beamed, gently pushing Lucas out of the way, then immediately performing a perfect dive off the cliff. He was immediately followed by Lucas, Ysabel, Lee, Sabrina, and a doddering Ronald who almost fell rather than jumped.

Lorelei turned to the remaining four, "Oh, were we lying?"

"Never to you, girl." Josh smiled, striding towards the edge, and stopping as he looked down, "Just… collecting myself."

"If you're trying to impress me you're doing a terrible job."  
"I… Uh…"

"Just get going lover boy!" Elijah yelled, as he sped past, cannonballing his way down. Oswald, more calmly, walked to the edge, "I mean dude… One way down."

"But there isn't!" Josh protested.

"Dude…" he shook his head and dove.

"Aw, screw it." Josh shouted, and followed them.

At the base of the cliff, Ivan was just hitting the water, unfortunately wide of the circle, "Drat" he exclaimed.

"Swim back!" Indira called from the shore, "You've got to swim!"

"Ah, yes," he said, pondering the situation, as a great white hurtled towards him. He reached out a hand, keeping the beast back, "One second beastie."

"Just swim you lunatic!" Edwin echoed.

"Oh, yeah." He turned tail and sped towards the shore, the force of his kicks sending the shark flying out of the water.

"Got bored of playing with the sharks?" Indira teased as he walked out of the water inadvertently doing his best James Bond impression.

"I moved past sharks when I was thirteen years." Ivan said, staring into the distance with a glint in his eye "Granitsy…"

"Huh, Russian Johnny Bravo had a pet shark… Didn't see that one coming…" Louise mused aloud.

"I did though, I am fairly sure I called that one," Edwin ascertained.

"No way!"

"Yes way, totally, 100%."

"You did not."

"Well maybe I just thought it…" he blushed.

Luckily, Louise only laughed, "Yeah okay I'll believe that."

Then, suddenly, it began raining Bass. Lucas, Ysabel, Lee, Sabrina and Ronald all arrived, Lucas and Lee being the only two to land in the safe zone, with a tumbling somersault and a graceful almost regal dive, respectively.

Gabriel whistled appreciatively, inadvertently catching the attention of all of his teammates, "What? It's impressive…"

"Why don't you keep your attention off of them and on the team right now?" Ruby stalked towards him.

"Right now, the only thing that can stop us winning, is their team." he spat right back.

"And that's your excuse for drooling over a girl?" Bella smirked, "Honestly dude I've heard better."

"Presumably not about you."

"Guys!" Indira interrupted, "I forgot aren't we meant to be a _team_?"

"You're right," Ruby conceded, "we can move past one of our own fraternising with them, and just eliminate him anyway."

"Who's fraternising?" Lee asked, approaching the group after getting off the boat, her hair still somehow beautiful and full of volume. The Bass stared at her for a minute, unsure of why she would be talking to them.

"Well, clearly, you now." Ruby quipped.

"Don't listen to her Lee," Gabriel said, taking advantage of the situation, "it's just competitive spirit right now, you know… How was your trip down here?"

Lee giggled a little at this, and Gabriel moved away from his team to sit with her for a chat.

Bella and Ruby stared dumbfounded for a second before simultaneously exclaiming at each other, "WHAT?!"

 **Confessional:**

Ruby: Ooh, maybe I was wrong about him. That is so not okay…

Bella: Are you kidding me? What a jerk…

Lucas: Him? Him? Really... And after all that somersaulting and flexing I did...

Gabriel: Right, let me get this straight, I am here to win, but if a situation presents himself, especially this early on, who would I really be if I didn't take advantage of it? Also, maybe it'll get some suspicion off of me.

Lee: Everyone's so nice, it's great to be here… Gabriel's so funny, I just wish that team was a little more open and fun. Like ours!

 **End**

Meanwhile, Ysabel, Ronald and Sabrina were still tangling with the sharks.

"N-nice big, terrifying monsters," Ysabel stammered, seeming unconfident for the first time, "my, don't your teeth like sharp, a-and clean!"

"I don't think you can flirt your way out of this one," Sabrina hissed, not taking her eyes off the awaiting fish.

"I so don't do that," Ysabel retorted, turning towards Sabrina, her confidence reignited.

"Nice doggy." Ronald whispered.

"Ugh," Ysabel rolled her eyes, "okay, on three, we turn and we bolt for the shore. One… Two…"

Sabrina turned and sped at two. "HEY!" Ysabel yelled, as the sharks burst forward, "AIEE!"

"Huh?" muttered Ronald as the shark swam past him, chasing the girls.

Luckily, they arrived at the beach before the animals had chance to get them, Sabrina bent double attempting to catch her breath, and Ysabel deciding to lie down suggestively, "Oh… Oh no… My heart's beating so… I may need mouth to mouth…" she looked around.

"I volunteer!" Lucas yelled, rushing towards her.

As he approached her, Sabrina slapped him on the arm, "She doesn't need mouth to mouth, loser. Get up Iz."

"You're no fun…" Ysabel moaned as she climbed to her feet, pouting.

It was then that Ronald washed up ashore, with a baby shark covering his entire head, nibbling on his neck. He slowly got up and seemed to look around, before trying to step forward and tripping over his own feet.

"Oh my God, Ronald!" Lee shouted, hurriedly standing up and prying the shark from around him, "Are you okay?"

"Whoa that was on my head?" he sounded almost amused, "I thought I'd gone blind."

"I think that boy has some serious mental development issues…" Gabriel whispered to no one in particular.

Lisa, standing behind him, overheard, "Oh my, you can't say that."

He winced, and turned, before softening, "You're right… I'm sorry."

"Aw, it's okay," she said, sitting down next to him, "so… You like… This place?"

 **Confessional**

Gabriel: Lisa's non-threatening. Harmless. Pleasing her right now just makes my job easier later. Simple strategy that.

 **End**

Elijah, Oswald and then Josh were the next to achieve splashdown.

As Josh resurfaced he looked around, "I- I'm alive! Ha ha! I made it!" he looked around, peering over the barrier, "Hey looks like you guys are on the wrong side!" he said smugly.

"Um, check again dude." Oswald smirked.

Josh did. It was in fact him that was in immediate danger of becoming shark chow. He slowly turned and came face-to-teeth with another shark. "Thank God these shorts are already soaking wet…" he whimpered. The shark dove under, and he gulped.

Then, the shark resurfaced from underneath him, and flung him to the shore with its nose.

When Josh had the courage to open his eyes, he was safe on the beach, surrounded by confused contestants, "I'm still alive!" he stuck two triumphant fists in the air, "Wait… Why didn't it try to eat me?"

"You're complaining about not being eaten?" Sabrina asked.

"Uh… I guess? Little insulting," he sniffed.

"If it helps, I would eat you, Josh," Ysabel whispered into his ear.

"Um…" he squeaked.

The boat then arrived with Elijah and Oswald, the former sporting a ear-to-ear grin, "Hey Josh, do you really taste so bad that even a shark won't eat you?"

"No!" Josh said, immediately defending himself, "He- he was just scared he couldn't handle all of this." He tried and failed to flex.

"Or maybe it's because you peed yourself." Oswald offered.

"I so did not!" he argued, unaware of the blush creeping across his face.

"Hey," Sabrina interrupted, much to the relief of many, "have we had, like, no chickens?"

"Ophelia and Lorelei are still up there," Elijah said, motioning up at the cliff.

On top of the cliff, surely enough, they were still there, arguing. Chris was checking his watch, and desperately looking to meet the eyes of a producer.

"Just jump Ophelia!" Lorelei was screeching.

"No you jump!" Ophelia retorted.

"No you!"

"No you!"

"Girls!" Chris interrupted, "If neither of you jumps in the next minute, you will both be given chicken hats and your team will not win this challenge." He stood for a second tapping his foot.

"You heard him! Jump!" Lorelei continued.

"Okay, why won't you jump?" Ophelia asked, stepping back and folding her arms.

"Because I need to make sure you all jump! Can't have anyone chickening out behind my back." Lorelei reasoned.

"Hm. How do I know you won't do the same?"

"Because I want this team to win." Lorelei raised a fist in a show of passion, "I want this team to beat their's and I wanna go far in this game."

Ophelia sized her up, "So you're right behind me?"

"Right behind ya."

Ophelia nodded and turned. She took a breath and a sprint, then cannonballed off the cliff.

Lorelei watched her jump, then turned to Chris, "So does this team win the challenge?"

"Well, yeah, I-"

"Cool, gimme a chicken hat, I'll take the escalator."

"Alright…" he said, handing her a hat, which she defiantly put on, then stepped onto the escalator, "See you down there for the next part of the challenge."

"The next part?" She screeched, turning around, and trying to climb back up the escalator, "You didn't say that!"

"I know," Chris grinned, "Have fun, chicken."

Lorelei kept trying to climb the escalator and slipping, before giving up, "Damn…"

At the bottom of the cliff, Ophelia landed dead centre of the safe zone, "Nice!" she said, looking up, expecting to see Lorelei coming screaming down. After a few seconds, she began to scowl. Then the boat arrived and she clambored on, seething, "Ooh, she's gonna get it."

 **Confessional**

Lorelei: Ooh boy did that not work out…

Ophelia: I cannot believe that cow. She is gonna get it!

 **End**

Ophelia reached shore and immediately ran to the base of the escalator. Lee and Sabrina came up behind her, "Hey O," Lee called out, "what's up? Where's Lorelei?"

Ophelia turned to them, fury in her eyes, "She told me she was right behind me. And now she's chickened out!"

"What?" Sabrina muttered.

As Lorelei came down, she caught sight of Lee and Sabrina, and the rest of the campers that were gathering at the base. She adjusted her chicken hat, and began to feign emotion, "Oh, I'm so sorry guys, I just couldn't-" she looked up and saw Ophelia tapping her foot, "oh boy."

"Just couldn't?" Ophelia said through gritted teeth.

"What's the truth?" Sabrina asked bluntly, folding her arms.

"Yeah what's up?" Lucas said, equally annoyed.

"Y-yeah!" Josh echoed, trying to emulate the others. Obviously failing to do so.

"Okay, I was counting and we could afford one to stay behind. I was playing strategically. We won anyway."

The Bass looked around at each other for a second. Lee was the first to pipe up, "She is right. We did win."

Lucas shrugged, "I guess we could-"

"I hope you're all ready for the second half of the challenge!" Chris called, descending down the escalator behind Lorelei.

"Second half?" Lucas exploded.

 **Confessional**

Lucas: Okay it's still selfish and wrong, but if we'd won it all I guess I could've forgiven her. But since we're not even guaranteed a win… Ooh, I'm mad.

Lee: *Sigh… Why Lorelei? How hard? The team energy is severely lacking now…

Lorelei: *Moment of silence… Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Gabriel: Ahahahahahah! Did you see that! Strategy!

Ruby: Ahahahahahah! Amazing!

 **End**

"The next part of the challenge," Chris began to announce, after gathering the campers all on the beach, "will be to transport these boxes back to camp, where you will unload all of them, and build the contents: a wicked hot tub!"

"Oh yeah, I could go for a hot tub!" Ysabel started fanning herself.

"The hot tub I declare the best will be available for use for that team all season! The loser's hot tub will be broken up and used for scrap, that is, if it even holds together," Chris chuckled. "Now, Bass, as the winners of the first half of the challenge, you will get to use these!" He stepped to the side as four carts fell from above, each landing perfectly.

"Nice!" Sabrina fist-pumped.

"Pfft, unneeded," Ivan waved them away.

"Anyway, stay tuned after the break for the exciting conclusion!" Chris smiled into the camera.

"Okay, cut!" a producer yelled.

"Alright guys, thank you," Chris smiled, "you all have five minutes to film confessions you wanna make then back here for the great race!"

Twenty campers sprinted off towards the confessional or towards the cabins to get changed quickly. Only Gabriel stayed behind, along with Bella, who had stopped when she noticed him not running. He looked her dead in the eye and crept into the carts. Bella peered over at him, trying to get a glimpse. Soon enough, he left, carrying something in his hand. He looked at her again, and winked, before running to the lake and tossing some screws, nuts, and bolts into the lake.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked.

He walked up to her, and gazed into her eyes, "Levelling the playing field. Giving us a chance. Got a problem with that?" He wasn't at all malicious. More like asking her to side with him, as if she could end his time on the show in the blink of an eye.

She lowered her eyes for a second, then looked back at him and shook her head, "No one has to know."

He grinned wide, "Atta girl! Gotta get changed, see ya!" He proceeded to sprint off, making up for lost time.

She smiled, then followed him, picking up the pace.

After five minutes had elapsed, all the campers gathered back up, dressed back in their normal clothes, and just waiting for Chris to give them an order.

"Alright campers, Bass your carts are loaded, Gophers you will have to drag, push or carry your crates to the campsite. You have one hour to arrive and construct your wicked, awesome, crazy hot tubs. Ready? On your marks… GO!"

The Gophers sprinted, anxious to get any sort of lead before the carts overtook them, whereas the Bass took it slow, knowing the advantage they had.

"Ugh, this is hopeless!" Ajay complained, as he reached a crate and tried to push it, "How are we gonna keep up?"

"Just keep it together guys," Gabriel smiled, "It ain't about getting there first it's about hot tub quality."

"Yeah," Bella echoed, "have a little faith and we could win easy!"

Ajay, Nate, Lisa and Indira nodded along, invigorated, starting to push with more force and actually starting to make headway. Gabriel, Bella and Lisa grabbed one box, Indira, Sascia and Ajay another, Louise, Clive and Edwin a third, and Nate and Ruby the final one.

The Bass strode towards their carts, Lorelei riding high, "See guys? This doesn't matter!" she indicated her chicken hat, but was met with little reaction. She winced.

"Let's get cracking guys," Lee beamed, grabbing one handle as Lucas grabbed the cart's other one.

But, as soon as they stepped forward, the wheel came crashing off of the cart, leaving the crate in the sand, and rendering the cart useless. The team stood there agape for a second.

"Okay," Lee said, her voice wavering, "Ivan, you can push that. We'll take the-"

But Sabrina and Oswald had grabbed a hold of another cart and that too fell apart.

"Maybe-" Lee started, but the other two carts quickly fell apart before she could finish, "Oh no…" she whispered, on the verge of tears.

"Wow, what a reward we won! What an advantage winning was!" Lucas yelled angrily, turning to Lorelei.

She stood silent.

 **Confessional**

Lee: It… It all fell apart… No pun intended…

Lorelei: Stupid!

Lucas: Some phony reward! I bet they were rigged to do that…

 **End**

Hearing the commotion behind them, Ruby turned to see what the big deal was. She stifled a laugh and turned to Nate, "You see that?"

"See what?" he asked turning, but tripping and falling into his box, "Ow!"

"Their carts broke!" Ruby whispered excitedly, "We should have no problem winning this!"

"Oh, for real?" Nate smiled, "Yeah! High five!" He offered a palm.

Ruby glared at him, "No way."

"Okay." he whined.

Bella looked back and then at Gabriel, who raised a finger to his lips as they both smiled.

"See guys!" Ruby called to the entire team, "We've got no problem here!"

Edwin and Louise turned, "Ha ha!" Edwin screamed, "Yeah go team, full speed ahead!"

"Yeah boy!" Clive agreed.

"Wait no no-" Louise tried to stop, but Edwin and Clive powered forward, accidentally causing her to fall face-first into the sand.

"Ooh, sorry?" Edwin said to her lying prone, looking over her.

She raised her face, a big grin plastered on her face, "Full speed ahead! Woo!"

 **Confessional**

Edwin: Louise is like really cool. I'm glad she's on my team. I'm also glad we caught that lucky break. Can you imagine.

Louise: I am so excited about my team! Eee! It's like we're destined to win! Oh… and it's cool to have Edwin around… I guess. *Blush

Clive: I absolutely didn't expect to be third wheeling this early.

 **End**

As the Gophers picked up the pace, the Bass stood arguing, words flying across the group, mainly from Lucas, Sabrina and Ysabel, aiming tangentially at Lorelei. Lorelei sighed and took a deep breath, before climbing up onto a box, "Hey guys!" she bellowed, catching all of their attention, "I know things don't seem great right now, but standing around shouting isn't going to help!"

"It might?" Sabrina shrugged.

Lorelei glared at her for a second before continuing, "If we want any chance of winning we need to work quickly, work hard, and most importantly work together! Do any of you want to be eliminated first?" Most of the team's gazes fell to the floor, avoiding eye contact with anyone, "Well that's the way we're going! If we band together, we won't get a disadvantage against them, and we'll have a sick-ass hot tub! For the summer!"

"Yeah!" Josh called out, before immediately shrinking back into himself.

"So c'mon! Ivan take the front box and push until you reach camp! Everyone else, two groups of three, one of four, and let's get rockin!"

"Yeah!" they chorused, and Ivan grabbed the box and started rocketing towards the campgrounds. Lee, Lucas, and Sabrina stood against one; Ysabel, Josh and Ronald another, leaving Lorelei, Ophelia, Elijah and Oswald to push the last one.

Ahead, Ivan caught up with Louise's box pretty easily.

"Uh oh…" Clive muttered, "Blonde A-train coming through!"

"Slow him down!" Ruby hissed at him from a little ways ahead.

"Uh, hey Ivan!" Clive called.

"Huh?" he screeched to a stop.

"I- I think you lost a piece of hot tub. Yeah I think I saw something fall out?"

"Fallout?" Ivan's eyes grew wide.

"No no," Clive cringed, "something fell out of your box you may need that."

"Da," Ivan nodded, breathing a sigh of relief, "thank you, comrade." He immediately began scouring the ground behind him.

"Go!" Louise hissed at Clive and Edwin, and they began to push again, gaining ground on a concentrated Ivan.

As they caught up to Ruby and Nate, Ruby gave him a devilish grin and a thumbs up. Clive hung his head for a second, before shaking himself up and pushing with renewed vigour.

Ahead were the other two groups. Lisa peeked around the corner of her box and saw the campgrounds, "Guys! We're almost there."

Bella looked around the other corner, "Yeah, and we're making great time!"

"Are we?" Gabriel asked.

"I don't know, probably."

Indira and Sascia, though, were the first to reach the grounds, "Alright, how do we get this open?" Sascia mused, staring at the box.

Suddenly, Indira unleashed a kick at the box, before: "Ow!"

"Yeah I don't think kicking the box open will work," Sascia muttered, trying to figure it out.

"Uh guys?" Gabriel called, as he dragged his box onto the grass from the sand.

"Yeah?" they looked up.

"Here." he pulled a cord along one of the sides of the crate, and it fell apart.

"Oh…" Indira muttered, embarrassed.

 **Confessional**

Indira: *Holding foot… Ouch.

Sascia: Oh yeah… The cord. I was wondering what that did. Oops, typical me I guess.

Gabriel: What's her name? Sascia… Okay yeah got it. Yeah. Um, which one is she again?

 **End**

As the Gophers began construction on their 'tub, the Bass were getting ever closer. Lucas, with his group leading the pack, glanced across and noticed Ivan, digging a hole in the sand. "What are you doing dude?"

"A Gopher said something fell out of my crate. I must find it. It is imperative in hot tub building."

"Mate, they're tricking you."

"Chto?"

Lee took over, "Yeah, they lied to get you to slow down."

"Insolents." he said, under his breath, before turning and racing towards the camp.

Ophelia sighed, "Guess we gotta catch up. Again."

Lee smiled, "Come on how far behind can we be?"

Ophelia turned, "Pretty far."

Lee turned to see what she was referring to, "Oh my."

Ysabel was sitting atop her box, seemingly trying to tan, as Josh and Ronald strained to push, Josh out of need for attention, Ronald because the only word he understood in the last half-hour was push.

"Iz!" Lee called.

"Yes?" Ysabel looked up, smiling.

"Push!"

"Ugh, fine." She hopped off, and stood between the boys, "Thanks anyway darlings for helping me."

"No worries, need anything, I'm your man," Josh panted.

"Push…" Ronald murmured.

The Gophers were halfway through building when the last Bass arrived. Lorelei looked around as the other Bass were hopelessly messing around with the pieces: Ysabel getting Josh to fan her; Ronald bashing two pieces of wood together; Lucas still trying to grab Lee's attention as she tried to fiddle with the mechanical parts; Ivan attempting to set up the wooden circle; and Ophelia sitting on the cabin steps, watching.

"Come on guys!" Lorelei shouted again, whipping everyone into shape quickly, except for Ronald, who responded with "Huh?"

"Is this how we're gonna win? No! Come on, get those pieces collected, let's get going!"

"You have fifteen minutes left, campers!" rang Chris' voice out of the PA system.

"Quickly!" Lorelei screeched.

Within the next ten minutes, the Gophers had a beautifully working hot tub. "Not a bad 'tub if I do say so myself." Gabriel said, admiring the handiwork.

"Yeah… I'm actually impressed." Ruby admitted.

Edwin and Louise beamed, "That was kinda fun," he said, her nodding in agreement.

"Go team!" Nate called, raising his palm for another high five.

"Ugh," said Ruby, "just drop it."

Nate shrank into himself.

Bella looked over at the Bass. Lorelei was running around like a headless chicken - ironically - trying to force everyone to get it right, screaming that Ivan was placing the wood crooked, that Ysabel and Ophelia weren't trying, that Lucas was too stupid to put the machine parts together, that Ronald was too stupid, and so on.

Quietly, Lee crept up to Gabriel, "Hey."

He jumped a little, "Oh. Hey. What's up?"

"I was thinking," she mumbled, aware of eyes on her, "do you know where this piece goes?"

With Ruby and Bella glaring daggers at him, Gabriel avoided their gaze, trying not to sweat, "Check the manual."

"The what?"

"The manual? Didn't you get one?"

Lee's eyes were drawn to the piece of paper stuck on Lorelei's boot, "Lorelei!" she called.

"What?" she turned, angrily, then, noticing where she stood, "We don't have time for flirting! Why don't you come and help your team for once."

"Hey!" Gabriel interjected, "She is getting help. You've-"

"Oh, I don't need help from you. Come on, stop being useless!"

"You've got the manual on your boot!" Lee yelled, snapping for the first time, leaving Gabriel in shock.

 **Confessional**

Nate: Okay Ruby scares me… But Lee may scare me more now.

Gabriel: That was so hot.

 **End**

"Oh." Lorelei said, peeling the manual off of her boot.

"Five minutes, campers!"

"Okay, quick, we've gotta be fast!" Lorelei said, turning to her team, who were glaring into her very soul.

"Why don't you give that manual to someone that's helping." Sabrina suggested.

"Um. Yeah. I mean-" she started, before giving in, and handing the manual to Sabrina.

"Okay. Let's get working."

Edwin slapped the hot tub on the other side, grabbing the attention of all the Gophers and some of the Bass, inadvertently, "Whaddaya say we fill this bad baby up with some hot water?"

"Read my mind!" Indira added, rushing to pick up a bucket.

 **Confessional**

Lorelei: Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! I've got so much to give!

 **End**

"And that's time, campers!" Chris announced, heading into the general campgrounds, flanked by Chef, "Let's see what you've got for us.

The Screaming Gophers stood proudly by their creation, puffing their chests. Chris gave it a look over, inspecting every nook and cranny. "Water? Hot. Looks? Hot. Tub? Hot!" he announced, "This is one rocking 'tub Gophers. Good work!"

"Thank you Chris!" Ruby beamed.

"Suck-up." Gabriel coughed. Ruby glared at him. He smiled back. Unable to keep herself, she fell into a fit of giggles, which then affected the rest of the team.

"High-five?" Nate suggested.

"High-five!" Ruby replied, and the team all brought their hands together in triumph.

Chris tentatively walked over to the other hot tub. The Bass seemed defeated, heads hung low. Their 'tub was patchwork at best, with wood going every-which-way and a leak sprung at the bottom, which Ronald kept trying to stave off with more lakewater. The machinery in the hot tub was also non-functional, and the liner was positioned in a way that it could only ever be half full.

"Well… I will say it has character." Chris chuckled. The Bass did not appreciate the joke. He tugged at his collar and continued, "I mean we all know what's coming here, this is by far a win… for the Screaming Gophers! Let's hear it for the winners of the first Total Drama Challenge!"

The Gophers whooped in joy, and formed a massive group hug. The Bass mumbled to themselves, and looked around not making eye contact.

"Killer Bass." Chris said, addressing them. I will see you all later tonight for the first ever Total Drama Elimination Ceremony, where one of you will be leaving us. Forever. See you in two hours." The Bass shuffled off dejectedly. Gabriel stood watching Lee leave, as she turned back to him and smiled a little, before entering the cafeteria. "Screaming Gophers!" Chris jumped between them, "You've earned yourself a hot tub party for tonight! Feel free to collect snacks, drinks and a music player from the kitchen. Well done. Enjoy yourselves. You're safe. For tonight."

"I call salt & vinegar chips!" Edwin shouted, darting into the cafeteria.

"Oh no way! They're mine!" Louise laughed, following.

"I want lightly salted but I'll run anyway!" Clive yelled.

"Can you believe it?" Sascia asked Indira, "We won! We actually did it."

"Hot tub party!" Indira smiled, reaching out for another high-five.

"Hot tub party!" Sascia smiled back, as they both high-fived and wandered into the cafeteria, followed by Nate and Ajay, which left just Lisa, Bella, Gabriel and Ruby standing outside.

"Come on guys!" Lisa squealed, "We don't wanna be left with the dull snacks! Go team!" She grabbed Bella and Gabriel by the arms and started dragging them inside.

"Yeah go team!" Gabriel said, emphasising team and staring directly at Ruby.

Bella looked at him, and thought to herself. About his gameplan. His strategy. His tactics. "Yeah. We fought real hard today," she said, emphasis on we, "it was a legit, hard-working team effort."

Gabriel winced a little but allowed himself to be taken inside alongside her. Ruby watched them, and turned to the remaining camera next to her, "He's good. She's good. I don't trust them. This girl needs a back-up plan. We won't be on teams forever. And when we're not. They're the first to go. Mark my words."

In the cafeteria, the dejected Bass sat silent as the Gophers raced through them, picking up various snacks and drinks, and screaming about what they wanted on the speaker. Gabriel was the last through, and he stopped next to Lee, whispering in her ear, "I really hope they don't vote you out." He smiled, genuine. She smiled back, then he left.

"You see!" Lorelei hissed, as soon as the Gophers were all gone, "You can't be that close with the other team."

Lee was about to defend herself, when Lucas jumped in, "Oh, stop trying to save yourself, chicken." Lorelei winced. "This is a real bad attempt to save your skin."

Many of the others nodded in approval. "Well, we haven't decided who we're voting out yet," Lee offered, trying to relieve tension.

"Lee, we all appreciate the attempt," Oswald reasoned, "but yeah we have." Sabrina nodded along.

"But…" Lorelei began, hurt, "I have so much more to give."

"Like what?" Lucas asked, bitter.

"I… I have leadership skills."

"No. You clearly don't!" Ophelia said from the far end of the table, "Some leader. Waiting for everyone else to fall on the sword then retreating out the back exit."

"That was tactics."

"Real bad tactics." Elijah said.

"Oh shut it, what did you do?"

"The jump. Also didn't ruin the manual and just go 'round shouting at everyone? That a long enough list?"

"You've made your point." she conceded. "I'm going to bed."

"Pack your things!" Ophelia called after her as she left.

As she walked out the door, Lee looked back in, "Weren't you all too mean?"

Oswald smiled warmly, "It's very noble, Lee, but come on. She deserves to be voted out. She brought it on herself."

"Are we all in agreement?"  
As she looked around the circle, and each person nodded, from Ivan to Ronald. Ysabel shrugged, "Hey. It's all over soon. At least we don't have to worry."

"We should probably start planning for how to win next time." Sabrina offered. Oswald, Elijah and Lee all nodded along.

"Bo-oring!" Ysabel moaned, "I'm gonna go see if I can't convince Nate to let me in the hot tub. Make it a hotter tub." she batted her eyelids, "Anyone to join?"

Josh and Lucas nodded vigorously, following her out. "Ugh," Ophelia said.

"Tell me about it." Elijah nodded.

"Let's get strategic then." Sabrina smiled.

From outside, Ruby's voice could be heard, "Nuh-uh, no way, you're pathetic Nate. Get your own hot tub!"

Later that night, the Bass were all gathered at the campfire, sat on the stumps. Lorelei a hollow shell, most everyone else just sitting, heads bowed, except Ysabel, still annoyed she couldn't get in the hot tub.

Chris stood at the front of the campfire, holding a plate of marshmallows. He began his overly-long, pre-prepared speech: "Campers. Here at camp, marshmallows are many things. They are a sweet gooey treat. An ingredient in s'mores. Great for throwing at your friends. But here at Camp Wawanakwa, they represent even more. They represent life. Your extended time at camp. The respect your fellow campers have for you. Campers I only have 10 marshmallows on this plate. One of you will not receive a marshmallow. That person will be eliminated from Total Drama, and forced to walk down the Dock of Shame, board the Boat of Losers, and never return. Ever. Now, you may all enter the confessional and cast your votes."

One by one, they entered the cramped outhouse and placed their vote. When they were all sat back down, Chris waited to receive the votes, then began again: "You have all cast your votes. All your fates have been sealed. If your name is called, please come up and claim a marshmallow. The first ever Total Drama marshmallow goes to…

Lee."

Lee happily rushed up and took her sweet treat, standing next to the plate anxiously.

Chris began to rattle off more names: "Sabrina. Ysabel. Ivan. Ronald. Lucas."

All five got up and joined Lee, safe for one more say.

"Elijah… Oswald… Josh…"

By now only two campers were left sitting. Ophelia, smirking and side-eyeing the other, Lorelei, whose head was almost in her hands.

"Campers there is only one marshmallow left." Chris declared. "If you do not receive this marshmallow, I'm sorry. But your time here is over. The final marshmallow goes to…"

He began to ratchet up the tension for the audience…

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

…

...

...

...

...

Ophelia. Lorelei, please take the Dock of Shame."

Lorelei stood up and sighed, "I was foolish to hope I guess. Thanks guys. I really tried. I'm sorry I let you all down. I hope it's one of you that ends up taking them down. I'll be rooting for you back home." As she stepped past them many wouldn't meet her eyes, save Lee, who smiled. Lorelei smiled back, happy that someone tried to care. "I hope it's you." she smiled.

She trudged down the dock to the boat and hopped on, her bags already present. Chef, driving the boat, turned around, "I'm sorry kid. Someone has to be first."

Lorelei nodded solemnly, "Yeah. Full steam ahead, Chef." He started the boat, and Lorelei watched the camp slowly shrink out of view.

Chris turned to the camera behind him, after watching Lorelei go away forever, "Well, how's that for a first elimination? But next week will be even more dramatic. Even more suspenseful, even bigger, even better! Tune in next time for more Total! Drama! Island!"

 **A/N - And only a year and two months late! If you see this, hope you enjoyed. This will probably get more done to it. I really do hope to continue it. As always feedback is appreciated. Thank you. Have a good one**


	3. Episode 3

**Chapter 3**

And as it goes, another morning dawns on Camp Wawanakwa. The birds were chirping, celebrating the sunrise, the sharks were preparing for another day of being used for torture, and absolutely none of the campers at all were awake. Chris was about to end that. Walking into the central campgrounds, he carried a stack of papers, flocked by interns doing his hair and makeup, and also Chef. "So yeah, okay." he muttered, turning to Chef, "So, feedback, better communication. Big one. Gotta do that." Chef nodded in agreement. "Yeah, thanks, um, more tension. Yeah. Gonna put that one on the kids a little, but…"

"We can always improve. You got this man. It's your first time, it'll come." Chef reassured his friend.

"Thanks, you always know what to say. Now get going man, you've got a lot of work to do." Chef nodded and left to attend his kitchen, ready to prepare some special surprise for the cast. Chris shooed the interns away and straightened his shirt, clearing his throat before turning to the camera. A producer gave him a thumbs up, which he returned, looking down the lens as the operator counted down.

"5...4...3...2…"

"Welcome back to Total Drama Island!" he began his spiel, "Last time, the campers arrived, were forced into two unstable teams and were immediately given their first ever challenge: jump off of a cliff! While some tackled it with confidence and ease, some found it more difficult, and being the chickens they are, were given limited edition, collectible chicken hats to wear for the rest of the day. While building their hot tubs tensions showed and relationships frayed, but the Screaming Gophers managed to keep it together, becoming the first ever Total Drama Challenge Winners! Unfortunately, this left the Killer Bass to send the first person home, unluckily for Lorelei, who took the first of many Boat of Losers trips this season. How will the Bass cope one man down? Will the Gophers' tensions tear them apart? And whose strategy will prevail? All these questions and more on this episode of Total! Drama! Island!"

"Cut! Roll intro, and we're done."

"Thanks guys, ready for the day to begin?" Chris asked.

"Whenever Chris!" came a voice.

"Okay, good, here we go." Chris was given a megaphone, and the rest of the behind-the-scenes members all scrambled to find their places or retreat to work on something else. "Let's go." Chris smiled, before raising the megaphone to his lips, "Good morning campers! Be ready outside in thirty minutes!"

Inside the Gophers' boys' cabin, Edwin shot up, hitting his head on the bunk above, "Ouch! Is it challenge time already?"

Gabriel, already sitting up, answered, "I guess. Man, it's too early for this."

"You were already up?"

"I'm a light sleeper. I heard them setting up."

"Oh, okay. Right, Imma go get everyone up." Edwin grinned, leaping up and banging the bunks and walls, "It's go time team! Let's pick up where we left off!"

"Dude too early, we're up!" Ajay said, leaning over his top bunk, "And I wouldn't do too much, you'll wake up-"

Ruby came bursting through the door in her nightclothes, which weren't much in terms of coverage, especially compared to Edwin's classic blue/white striped pyjamas, "Who's doing that? Who is it?" she demanded, "Which one of you losers thinks that's necessary?"

"Take a guess." Gabriel muttered.

"I- it's just cause I'm so excited to get going again?" Edwin shrugged, sheepishly.

"Never. Ever!" she stalked towards him, "Do that again. Okay?"

"Okay." he squeaked. As she left she slammed the door behind her, and he turned to the other four boys, who were struggling to contain their laughter. "Aw c'mon guys!" he whined.

"It's a little funny." Clive offered, grabbing and cleaning his glasses.

"Yeah," Nate said, chuckling, "you were terrified."

"Nate if that was you, you would've peed your pants." Edwin shot back, causing Ajay to break into fits of laughter.

"I… No! I wouldn't have!" he tried to defend himself, while also thinking that he probably would've.

"Now if you'll excuse me," Edwin breathed deep, "I need the bathroom."

"Yeah I'm sure you do!" Ajay said, breathless with laughter.

Over on the girls' side, Ruby walked back in, mood dark as thunder, "Stupid boys." she muttered.

"Tell me about it," Bella yawned, hopping out of bed and grabbing a few towels, fixing to have a shower.

"It's bad enough being woke early, but that? After we got like no sleep last night?" Ruby continued, "Ugh, I ate way too much. Last night was so long."

"But it was so much fun!" Louise said, hanging upside down from her top bunk, "I just had the best time! I'm so psyched we have a hot tub all season!"

"Yeah! Same!" Indira called from her bunk, awkwardly trying to throw herself out of the cramped space, "We just gotta keep winning and keep having parties!"

"Yeah well, right now, I'm not even in the mood," Ruby yawned, "it's too early."

Lisa crept out of bed, slipping on a pair of bunny slippers, "Good thing I don't need much sleep." she smiled, "I can make up for you."

"Yeah please," Ruby crashed down on her bed, "just go out there and take my place."

"Twenty five minutes!" Chris yelled again.

"Ugh…" Ruby moaned into her pillow.

Sascia hopped out of bed and went to help her up, before Indira burst over and grabbed her arm, "I mean I wouldn't. Probably best to keep both your arms for now."

Over in the Bass' cabin, on the girls' side, Ysabel came striding in, resplendent in delicate make-up, and beautifully done hair, "Rise and shine babes."

"Ugh, how are you up?" Sabrina complained, her hair sticking out randomly in 360 degrees round her head.

"It always takes hours to create this art you see before you," she whipped her hair around, and smiled, "I'm always up at five. The early bird catches the worm, if you know what I mean."

"Gross," Ophelia said, getting up and stretching.

"Ugh, that's so not what I meant."

"Whatever," she replied, sticking on a t-shirt that may or may not have been the exact same one as yesterday.

"That is gross." Ysabel cringed.

"What? It's clean. And I don't need expensive clothes to win $100,000. Also I'm not trying to impress the neanderthals out there for a little summer fling."  
"Wow." Ysabel simply said, "Clearly you're not paying attention."  
Lee got up and stood between the two, "Okay guys calm down. We don't need to fight before the challenge even begins."

"Okay," Ysabel conceded, "but only cause you're proving my point." she turned Lee to show Ophelia, "See, it's not a bad thing to get ready and made-up early."

"Um, I haven't got ready yet…" Lee blushed.

"Lucky…" Ysabel breathed.

"Still, we're only four girls on our team," Lee said, clearing her throat, "we absolutely need to stick together."

"Agreed," Sabrina nodded, walking out the door, "now I'm gonna go take a shower at a normal time like a regular person."

Over on the boys' side, Ivan was already up, doing push-ups on the floor. Unbeknownst to him, Ronald was still dreaming, and accidentally rolled towards the edge of his top bunk. Inevitably, he stretched just a little too far, and tumbled over the side, crashing down on top of Ivan, still asleep.

Ivan grunted, "157… 158… Oof, this is harder than usual." He got himself up, letting Ronald fall to the floor, "Oh, sorry my snoring friend."

Ronald awoke, "Huh?"

"It is challenge time," Ivan smiled, "let us be getting ready."

"Yeah, get ready," Ronald muttered, wandering towards his bags.

Lucas leant over his bunk, head-height with Ivan, "I worry about him."

"He's harmless," Elijah waved him off from the bunk below, "plus I really like watching him." Ronald pulled out a shirt from his bag for a second and just stared at it, then slowly put it back, "It's like watching a zombie."

"C'mon guys," Oswald said, hopping out of bed, "let's cut him some slack."

"I'm not being mean," Elijah said, "It's true."

Oswald observed him try on an assortment of hats before settling on no hat, "Who needs that many hats?"

"Hats are a useful accessory," Josh noted, pretending to do some exercise to limber up, "really eye-catching in a hatless room."

Lucas rolled his eyes, "Dude, who are you trying to impress? I mean you're just gonna pull a muscle."

"You're right," Josh thought for a second, "I should be doing this outside."

As Josh sprinted outside Lucas made a confused gesture at his teammates. Oswald shook his head, "If he's so desperate to alienate every female on the island, more power to him."

"It's sad." Ronald said, ghosting his way into the conversation.

"What's sad?" Elijah asked, eagerly anticipating the answer.

"I forgot my hat."

 **Confessional**

Gabriel: Okay, admittedly, I used this much more than I wanted to yesterday, but people surprised me. Mostly for the better. For them at least

*Ruby from outside... "Are you done? We've only got five minutes!"

How long do you think it takes me to confess?

Ruby: Ugh, I am not a morning person. I need coffee so much.

Josh: Yeah, I work out every morning. Never thought about doing it outside though. No one else was outside, but I felt them watching. Yeah.

Ronald: *Waving... Hi Camera!

 **End**

Half an hour later, Chris had gathered both teams in front of their cabins, in various stages of disarray and preparedness, with many sitting on the cabin steps and few left standing. Chris checked his watch, "Campers it is currently… Early, and we are ready to give you your next challenge."

"Why so early?" Ruby whined, prompting nods from a smattering of others.

"Because you've got a long few days… ahem, a long day ahead of you." Chris laughed. Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "Anyway, the first part of your challenge is super simple. It's a race 10k around the island, ending back at the mess hall. Right there."

"Ugh, I could barely stand up, let alone run 10k!" Sabrina moaned.

"I could," Josh said, puffing out his chest, "yeah, bring it on." Sabrina glared at him.

"Well, either way campers, you have two hours to make it back for breakfast. If you don't make it you don't eat."

"Wait, breakfast?" Edwin's head shot up, "I am starving, gimme!"

"Slow down Ed-boy." Chris grinned, "You'll be following that marked trail all the way around, so there's no way you should be getting lost in the woods." Chris pointed out what was almost a race track that led deep into the woods. Josh gulped. "Are you ready?" Edwin and the campers that wanted breakfast went down into sprinter stances. Ivan and Lisa were also prepared, by nature that neither of them were really tired. "Get set…" Chris raised the megaphone to his lips, "Go!"

Many sprinted off immediately, while a few campers were slower to get off, and when Ronald had been told the exact direction to go by Chris, everybody was racing against the clock to claim something to eat.

Leading the pack was Ivan, way ahead of everyone, hardly breaking a sweat. His long legs carried him like a stallion through the trees. The campers that were heading up the actual group, that being Lucas, Lee, Ajay, Gabriel and Sabrina, watched him slowly shrink ahead of them, into the gloom. "Yeah." Gabriel nodded, "Saw that one coming."

"Guess we're gonna kick your ass at this challenge," Lucas smirked, trying to push forward but gaining very little ground, and slowing up because he didn't really want to be alone.

"It's not about finishing first," Ajay said calmly, "it's about not finishing last." Gabriel nodded.

"Maybe I should go back and make sure we're not last..." Lee mused.

"What good's that gonna do?" Sabrina asked, "Too risky, may as well finish and hope for the best."

"Yeah, stay here with us," Lucas smirked again, "let's ditch these Gophers."

"Ouch." Ajay said, feigning hurt.

"Wow, that's so unfair. Now we'll definitely lose the challenge…" Gabriel continued along with the act. Lee giggled.

Lucas scowled, "Whatever, let's get going." He started to pick up speed, and Sabrina followed him. He turned, "C'mon Lee, you want first dibs at that breakfast?"

"I'll catch up," she smiled at him.

"Suit yourself," Sabrina shrugged, "you're getting all the stale bread though!"

Lee giggled again, "I'll cope thanks."

Gabriel looked at Ajay and raised an eyebrow, who replied with a shrug. As soon as Lucas and Sabrina disappeared from view, Gabriel turned to Lee, "Y'know you can join them right?"

"I don't want to." Lee smiled, "How was the party?"

"Uh, yeah good, good." he said nonchalantly, "I mean not much. Typical."

"It's a hot tub." Ajay offered, "There honestly wasn't much we could do with it."

"Still..." Lee said, wistfully, "Probably better than our night."

"Oh, yeah, how was that?" Gabriel asked, "Must've been a tough decision to make night one."

Lee sighed, "I had hoped so, but everyone agreed to vote Lorelei out. They were so mean to her. To her face."

"I mean…" Ajay tried to help, "We all saw that one coming… Even from our side…"

"Maybe…" Lee sniffed, "Still it didn't feel fair."

"Aww," Gabriel put a hand tentatively on her shoulder, which was really awkward because they were still jogging, and he kept accidentally losing contact, "it'll be alright. In the end, it's just the game. This sorta thing is gonna happen every day."

"But it shouldn't…" Lee said, although inside she knew he was right.

"I know… I know…"

 **Confessional**

Lee: I know it's going to be intense. But it doesn't have to be unfair. I'll make sure of that.

Ajay: Gabriel and Lee, huh? Awkward.

Gabriel: Lee… There's your biggest surprise. I'm lucky she's on the other team in a way. No way would I get anything done if she was on mine…

Lucas: I cannot believe she wants to spend time with him- I mean the Gophers rather than with me- I mean our team! That's so not team spirit. I guess I just have to remind her, eh?

Sabrina: Lucas is embarrassing. I just thought it would be even more embarrassing with Lee and that Gabriel guy. I was probably wrong, he just complained about her for like five kilometres.

 **End**

A little ways behind were a group of also strong runners who were either just a little slower or just cared less. Bella led the group, mostly trying to stay ahead of Indira, Sascia, Oswald, Ysabel, and Josh.

Ysabel was barely breaking a sweat, "So, Josh, holding up well?"

Josh was bent double, sweating enough to create a trail of water wherever he went "Yeah… Just… Fine…" he said between pants, "Y… You?"

"Never better, nothing like a run to wake all of you up in the morning."

Josh's breathless face somehow turned even more red, "Yeah… Know…. The… Feeling…"

Oswald looked back at her, "How are you not sweating?"

"A lot of high-grade makeup," she shrugged, "I'm prepared for all scenarios."

"Wow. That's… Impressive." Oswald mused, nodding.

"Thank you." she grinned, "You're impressive."

He cringed a bit, "Not one of your best lines."

"I know…" she pouted.

"I… Liked… It…" Josh offered.

"Just collapse before you pass out, why don't you." she snapped, before feigning sweetness: "We need you at full strength for the rest of the challenge."

"Oh… Kay…" Josh replied, almost falling flat on his face as he stopped to try and lean on a tree before he drowned Wawanakwa's entire ant population.

"Ugh…" she muttered as they left him behind.

"Tell me about it." Oswald shook his head as they moved to run alongside each other. He then looked around, noticing they were now outnumbered by Gophers, "Hey, you guys enjoy your hot tub last night?"

"Ruby says I'm not allowed to talk to you…" Sascia said.

"Huh?" Ysabel said, confused.

"She means fine." Indira covered their tracks, or at least tried to, "I mean it was a hot tub. We binged so hard on junk food though…"

"I am jealous." Ysabel stated, frowning, "I would kill for a night in that tub with…" she drifted off into her own thoughts.

"I don't wanna know where that was going." Oswald told the other girls. They vigorously nodded in response.

"Well, good luck with ten people," Sascia said, genuinely.

"I reckon we'll be fine," he shrugged the notion off, "it's only day two. How much of a difference can not having Lorelei do to us?"

"Nothing negative," Ysabel muttered.

Bella rolled her eyes from in front, "Why don't you guys shut up and just run?"

"Cause you're doing that and you're still barely in front of us, so what's the point?" Ysabel replied, smirking.

"Ugh." Bella grunted, before picking up speed, trying to catch up with the faster runners.

"What's her problem?" Ysabel asked

"Honestly we don't know." Indira answered.

 **Confessional**

Bella: What is it with our team and just constantly hanging out with theirs? How hard is it to keep your head?

Oswald: I mean maybe we're at a disadvantage numbers-wise, but we're at a huge advantage heart-wise. Oh my God, I can not believe I said that, don't keep that in.

Ysabel: You'd think after a hot tub party they'd be a bit more loose. Nope. Still stuck-up and annoying. All of them.

Indira: I don't know why Ruby and Bella are so defensive? Like we're all here to win but also to make friends. What's the harm?

Josh: 10km is so far! So long!

 **End**

At the finish line, Ivan was just arriving, in front of an amazed Chris and Chef."Wow, congrats Ivan, you're the first to arrive." Chris told him, checking his watch.

"Of course." he smiled, striding into the mess hall. "What is breakfast?"  
"Ain't done yet." Chef shrugged, "Ya gonna have to wait for the two hours to be up."

"I see." Ivan stroked his chin, before going inside and sitting by a table, thinking.

"Where'd you find him?" Chef asked Chris.

"How much power d'you think I have?" Chris said, as surprised as he was, "I just got given the files. Most of his is redacted."

Towards the back of the pack were many of the languishing runners. Edwin, Lisa and Louise representing the Gophers, and only Elijah for the Bass, who was feeling really awkward about himself right now. "Um, so…" he tried to cut the tension, "How was the party?"

"It was great!" Louise beamed, unconcerned about the team barriers separating them, "We got chips and chocolate and pop and-"

"Louise is still on a sugar high." Edwin interrupted.

"I so am not." she pouted, "I'm just high on life." Elijah fake gagged. Edwin and Louise both cracked up at this, and Elijah's confidence was restored just a little.

"I was so worried this would be awkward…" he offered.

"Oh, no man!" Edwin shook his head vigorously, we're still mates y'know."

"Yeah!" Louise echoed, "Who cares what team you're on."

"Most of the rest of your team." Elijah replied.

"Who?" Lisa asked, butting straight into the conversation, "Who are you talking about?"

Elijah was caught off-guard, "Um, not you. Just y'know…"

"Who? Who? Who?" she persisted.

"Y'know… The big three… The scary ones."

"Oh, Ruby. Yeah I know." Lisa nodded.

"And Bella… And Gabriel…" Elijah added.

"Oh, no way, Gabriel's not scary." she laughed him off, "He's just enjoying himself." Louise and Edwin exchanged a glance.

"You don't share a cabin with him…" Edwin muttered.

"You don't share one with Ruby." Louise countered.

"Quiet and calculating is always scarier than angry." Elijah nodded.

"Oh you're overreacting. He's harmless." Lisa smiled.

"Why are you still back here?" Elijah asked, "I'm not being mean but you were like not tired at all and we're way behind."

Lisa shrugged, "I'm not fast."

"Hey I think I see Gabriel and Bella up ahead." he mused.

"Where?" Lisa said, excitedly, speeding up and getting ahead of the others.

Once she was out of earshot Elijah breathed a sigh of relief, "What's her deal?"

"She doesn't wanna see who he is." Edwin guessed.

"That's deep Eddy." Louise said. "We've gotta keep a positive mindset on our team though. We can't be infighting. Yet." she grinned, as a slightly manic laugh escaped her lips.

"Let's see what you're saying when they kick you off." Elijah said brusquely.

"Maybe we should band together?" Louise suggested.

"Yeah!" Edwin said over-excitedly, "When the teams are gone we'll need friends."

"We gotta stick together." Elijah agreed.

"Alliance?" Louise asked.

"Alliance." the boys agreed, Edwin offering a high five. They brought their palms together, grinning, before quickening their jog, invigorated.

Soon, Lucas and Sabrina made their way back to the mess hall, and looked inside, seeing Ivan performing a handstand, looking pensive. Lucas strode in, looking around and smiling, "Hell yeah, just Bass baby."

Sabrina rolled her eyes, "Duh. We've done all we can for now…"

"Yeah, but if we're this good…" he gestured to the room, "we really don't need to worry now do we."

"That attitude's gonna help big time. Why don't we just give up and let them lose!" she responded snarkily.

"Oh, comrades!" Ivan called, overhearing, "Join, please." He performed a deft somersault, landing sat on the bench.

"Hey Ivan," Sabrina smiled, avoiding Lucas, who was still a little miffed at her response, "What's up with you?"

"I have been thinking."

"About…?" Lucas broached, sitting down by the two of them.

"Competition." he smiled. He didn't seem interested in expanding.

"Cool…" Sabrina muttered.

Then, Ajay, Gabriel and Lee dawdled through the door, Gabriel remarking, "... and that's why I don't tend to talk to them much anymore." Lee laughed audibly, and Ajay sported a wide grin.

"Hey! Lee!" Lucas called, "Come sit with the team!"

"Oh, of course!" Lee smiled, "See you guys. Good luck!"

"Thanks!" said Ajay.

"Wish I could say the same to you." Gabriel shrugged, smirking, prompting another giggle from Lee. Lucas grimaced.

"Bye!" Lee waved, sitting opposite Ivan by their table, "So I guess we wait? What was that about stale bread?" she smiled at Lucas.

"I… I thought we'd already have breakfast." he mumbled, almost blushing.

"Aww," Sabrina pouted mockingly, "I'm sure you'll be right next time." Lucas glared at her.

"Whatever."

Ajay and Gabriel sat at the other table, Gabriel on the side where he could see the Bass. Ajay noticed him looking over his shoulder, "Hey, man. Probably not the best idea."

Gabriel shook himself a little, then regained focus, "Wha- I mean c'mon dude. Could you imagine though?"

"It's just I don't wanna lose because of your crush."

Gabriel's demeanour became steely, "You're one to talk chicken-boy." Ajay shuddered, "I can let that go but don't doubt my commitment to the team. You ain't proved jack."

"And you have?" Ajay asked, his voice cracking slightly.

"I jumped." Ajay shut up. Gabriel reached over and slapped his arm playfully, "Look dude, honestly you've seemed confident and in it today. Good for you." He seemed to smile genuinely.

Ajay allowed the hint of a smile to play at the corners of his mouth, "Thanks man."

 **Confessional**

Gabriel: If Ajay implies that again he is straight up gone. I ain't come here to mess around.

Ajay: Man, I can see why some of them are scared of him… I was certain he was gonna hit me. What does Lee see in him?

Sabrina: Yeah we lost one challenge and suddenly we're unbeatable says Lucas. Someone donate him a dose of reality.

 **End**

At the very back of the pack were the last five contestants: Ruby, Clive, and Nate from the Gophers and Ophelia and Ronald from the Bass, the latter somehow having caught up. Ruby was as close to walking as she imagined possible, with Clive struggling hard, gasping for air, and shaking an inhaler. Nate was scared to fall out of Ruby's sight. Ophelia was putting in the minimum effort, and Ronald just not wanting to get ahead of them because he wasn't sure what would happen exactly.

Ruby looked around and shuddered, before eventually landing on Nate.

 **Confessional**

Ruby: I figured I needed an inside man. Someone to do my dirty work, a fall guy. I needed an alliance. And Nate was the nearest, easiest target.

 **End**

"Hey, Nate?" Ruby called.

"Hey, yeah, what?" he answered, flustered. She gestured that he should follow her as she picked up her pace. They sped up out of earshot of the rest. Ronald tried to follow, but Ophelia held him back, stating "You don't wanna know what they're doing…"

Once she was sure they were safe, she whipped her head 'round to him, causing him to flinch, "I have an idea."

"I'm listening…" he grinned.

Her expression turned stormy, "Ew. I want to form an alliance."

"Yeah, okay." he responded immediately, nodding.

"Really?" she was a little taken aback.

"Hell yeah baby."

"I just mean we vote together. We keep each other safe. We work together to be the final two. Nothing more."

"Yeah, duh, I know." He didn't know.

"Perfect. We'll have to talk strategy if we lose."

"What's the plan, boss?"

She looked around, "Well, we haven't lost yet, but first, we cut the fat. The useless ones."

"Got it," he grinned, "Gabriel."

"No." she scolded, "Not yet. He's useful now. You know who I mean."

"Oh, yeah, okay." he nodded.

"Great. Now let's-" she began, as the mess hall came into view, "Oh, we're done already."

 **Confessional**

Nate: I figured, alliance with the scariest, hottest camper? Where's the downside? Obviously she recognises my importance.

Ruby: And the best thing is, who's gonna say no to voting him off if I need to save my ass?

 **End**

Ruby and Nate burst into the mess hall, to find the rest of the teams waiting. "You're late to class, take a seat." Bella offered, indicating the bench next to her.

Ruby sat, "So what happens next?"

"We wait for the last three to see the results!" Chris called into a megaphone as he descended on a rope from the ceiling, "Then, we eat!"

"Breakfast!" Edwin shouted.

"We have two Bass left and one Gopher… Who will arrive last?" Chris asked rhetorically. Everyone gazed at the door for one second. Two. Then Ophelia kicked open the door nonchalantly, followed directly by Ronald.

"Hey guys!" she called, striding over to the Bass' table. Ronald teetered along behind her.

Then, Clive finally appeared at the door, leaning on the frame. "Wait!" Lucas yelled, standing, "If he's last, then we win!"

"Not exactly!" Chris countered. Sabrina rolled her eyes, and let her head fall to the table.

As Clive stumbled in, he took another puff of his inhaler. "Are you serious?" Ruby screeched, "How are we last?"

"A… Asthma…" Clive hit his chest.

"Oh… I'm sorry." she conceded. Confused looks were shared between the Gophers, with the exception of Nate's infinitely smug face.

"Now campers!" Chris announced, "Who's up for breakfast?"

"ME!" Edwin yelled, leaping up onto the bench.

"Rhetorical question, Ed-boy!" Chris grinned, pointing at him, then pulling away a large curtain to reveal an extremely long table, piled high with sausages, bacon, eggs, waffles, hash browns, pancakes, more bacon, french toast, different kinds of eggs, orange juice, apple juice, milk, more bacon, one box of cereal, regular toast, fresh fruit, bread and one giant bottle of syrup, as large as Chef.

Oswald turned to his team, "I was wondering why that curtain was there."

"As you can see, we've gone all out. Welcome to Total Drama Island!" Chris grinned, "Now dig in!"

After about an hour the table was picked clean. Absolutely nothing edible remained on the table and all the campers sat at their tables, leaning back stroking their bellies, or heads down on the table, smiling dreamily.

"Oh boy," Louise sighed, "I haven't eaten that much since… Last night."

"If this is what breakfast is like, I never wanna be voted out!" Edwin nodded.

"Is… Is that the one reason you don't wanna be voted out?" Bella asked, incredulously.

"Mmhmm…" Edwin shut his eyes and sighed contentedly.

Bella turned, expecting Gabriel to make some sort of comment or eye roll. He sat, picking at his plate a little, stabbing at crumbs with a fork. "Still hungry?" she smirked.

"Eh, I didn't wanna eat much. I mean, did we lose?"

"Shhh!" Ruby demanded from beside him, covering his mouth with a hand, causing him to roll his eyes and glare at the space to his right, "Just let us enjoy this!"

"Man that was good!" they heard from the other table. They turned to see Oswald and Elijah practically in food comas. Elijah continued, "I mean, if the challenge was to fit as many hash browns in your mouth as possible, I reckon I've crushed that one."

"And if it was sausages," Oswald nodded, "Ysabel's got that one."

"Hey!" she retorted, then, in an effort to hide her feelings, "Eh, I'm too full to argue."

"Not the first time she's used that one." Elijah whispered to Oswald.

"Ha… I don't get it."

Lucas belched. "Ew, gross…" Lee crinkled her nose and stared at him.

"... Pardon?" he attempted to salvage the situation.

Ivan nodded, "Better. Keep your manners."

"Yes, Mr King of Bacon, sir." Lucas saluted.

"I have tackled many bigger, and better feasts." Ivan shrugged off the title, "Was not challenge."

The word challenge rang in Lucas' head. "Challenge?... Challenge!" his face lit up as the gears finally turned into place, "Hey, didn't we just win the challenge!"

"Oh yeah!" Josh said, his head springing up, his cheek attached to a plate by copious amounts of syrup, "We won!"

Just then, a rope fell from the ceiling, and Chris came spiralling down.

"Huh… There's a sunroof up there." Ajay remarked, staring at the roof.

"Indeed there is," Chris smiled, "and now it is time for your final challenge today!"

"I knew there was something else!" Ruby shouted.

"Well observed!" Chris' smile was unfazed, "And I really love this one. This is: the Awakeathon!"

"The what?" Clive asked, already half-asleep.

"You heard me dozy! The rules are simple. In fact they're so simple, there's only one rule! Stay awake. Team with the last man standing wins!"

"But they've got more players than us!" Lucas whined.

"Should've won yesterday." Chris shrugged, "Now will everybody adjourn to the campfire! Your challenge will begin there!"

 **Confessional**

Louise: Ooh, I shouldn't have eaten all those pancakes… I was just about to take a nap!

Sabrina: I've never been good at staying awake. I once tried to do a movie marathon with my boyfriend, and I fell asleep halfway through the second Harry Potter. He dumped me after that… I'm joking by the way, I totally dumped him.

Lucas: How does last man standing work with uneven teams. That's so unfair…

Lisa: Yes! A challenge I've been working towards all my life!

 **End**

The teams gathered on either side of the campsite, many already struggling to hold off sleep. Chris stood between them, stopwatch in hand. "Alrighty campers. On your marks… Get set… Try-not-to-sleep!"

"Bit of a mouthful that." Sabrina remarked.

"Try not to sleep…" Ronald murmured to himself.

The campsite was, besides that, mainly silent, with everyone just looking around at each other. Chris shrugged, "Hey, it's not an intense challenge. Don't sleep. I'll be watching." he finished that thought in a sing-song voice and left for his trailer where there was a monitor waiting for him.

 **Confessional**

Chris: Hey, it's Chris coming at you. This is my set-up where I'll be counting down the campers one by one. I'll be keeping everything square and clean with my buddy Chef here. Hey Chef tell me, what do you think about the competitors so far?

*Chef: … Do I have to answer that on camera?

 **End**

"I don't know, how do you usually stay awake?" Gabriel shrugged, looking between Lisa and Bella, who were sat beside him next to a stump.

"Video games." Lisa blushed, "But it's gotten to the point where I'm basically nocturnal anyways. I've evolved past sleep." She giggled at that last part.

Gabriel considered for a second, knitting his eyebrows and turning hopefully to Bella.

"I don't know, I use my phone? I don't stay up late I'm not a freak."

"Hey…" Lisa pouted.

"No, I didn't mean it like-" she yawned before she could finish her sentence.

"Looks like it's you and me gonna be stuck together for a long day." Gabriel said to Lisa, who blushed again, even deeper.

Ruby was pacing around the Gophers, "So… just don't fall asleep. Okay, got it, woo, 100% we up for it."

Edwin leant over to Louise, his voice heavy with sleep, "What's her problem?"

Ruby suddenly appeared between them, "Honestly, I'm pretty hopped up on coffee. Don't fall asleep!" Then as soon as she appeared she disappeared.

Louise blinked,"… Okay I don't think I'll have a problem staying awake."

"Good!" Ruby said, her face appearing and disappearing once again.

 **Confessional**

Chris: Where did she get coffee from? I thought we kept that away from them?

*Chef: I don't know there weren't none on the table

Ruby: Okay, so, I got Gabriel to find the coffee machine and pump me full of caffeine, haha! This worked out so well ahaha...

 **End**

Lee sat, her head on her hand, and checked her watch, "So how long is this gonna last?"

Elijah, sitting at her feet, answered, "As long as it takes you to fall asleep."

Lucas stood up, "How 'bout we play a game or something? Y'know, to keep us occupied?"

"That's not a bad idea," Lee beamed, "what are we gonna do?"

"I… hmm." Lucas considered, "I hadn't thought about that."

Sabrina rolled her eyes, "You've got to have some idea if it was your suggestion."

"Hey I don't have to come up with everything."

"I guess arguing will keep us awake." Oswald observed.

"How about I Spy?" Lucas suggested.

"Are we six?" Sabrina asked.

"Come up with something better!" Lucas pouted, folding his arms and sitting down.

"Charades?" she immediately came up with, "Truth or dare? Never have I ever? Would I lie to you?"

"Truth or dare works!" Ysabel immediately entered the conversation.

Josh was right behind her, "Did I hear truth or dare? I'm down!"

"Of course," Sabrina said, "okay guys, get in a circle, who's playing?"

Lee, Elijah, Oswald, Lucas, Josh, and Ysabel gathered around. Sabrina looked over at Ronald, Ophelia and Ivan, "Not you guys?"

Ophelia looked over, glared, and shook her head. Ronald didn't react, and Ivan looked at his feet, "I fear I cannot."

"What, legally?" Elijah asked.

"Da." was the one word response. Elijah turned back and opened his eyes wide, "I think we're good for now."

Lee leant over her shoulder towards the Screaming Gophers, "Hey would you guys be up fo-"

"No, Lee!" Lucas hissed, getting in between her and the other team, "Not them, we want them to fall asleep y'know!"

"Oh…" she seemed disappointed, "Yeah, I guess that's true."

"Alright then," he smirked, victorious, "Lee, truth or dare?"

 **Confessional**

Lee: Like, I know we want to win, but it just doesn't seem right to exclude the other team. Really it's not fair. Plus there are a few questions I would've liked to ask Gabriel.

Lucas: Stage one complete, activate stage two.

 **End**

"I guess… Truth."

Lucas looked disgruntled, "Okay… Um… Why are you here?"

Lee was taken aback and blinked once, "Uh, I guess I wanted a way to spend the summer to get to know new people. It seemed like so much fun."

"Not for the money?" Sabrina asked.

"No, not really. It would be nice to win, but I'm not concerned."

"Aww…" Elijah said, making a heart with his hands, "That's nice."

Lee smiled, "Thanks Elijah. Who's next?"

After an hour, everyone was still yet to fall asleep, and the game of truth or dare was well over, after Sabrina had dared Lucas to go over to the Bass and steal something off of Ruby. He said it was because he didn't want to cause a scene and keep them awake, but it was universally agreed it was because he was scared, causing Elijah, Oswald and Sabrina to laugh intermittently ever since. The gap between the teams, however, was closing. Edwin, Clive and Louise had motioned Elijah and Oswald over to their stumps, and Ysabel had subtly begun to move amongst the Gophers, eventually landing on Nate. She sat behind him, swinging her hair over his shoulder, and positioning her head over his other shoulder, "Hey…" she whispered.

He jumped, "Oh sh- Oh… Hey." he tried to play off his surprise.

"I was thinking," she feigned a yawn, "I'm falling asleep, I need someone to keep me awake you know?"

"I'm your man!" he replied immediately, patting his lap.

Ysabel grinned, and stepped around the stump, before Ruby appeared, "Uh-uh, no way, Nate we have something to discuss."

"But I-"

"No buts, this way, now!" Ruby dragged Nate to a corner of the campsite.

Ysabel looked around, dejected. "Unlucky!" Gabriel called, sitting on the floor by a nearby stump, "Maybe he'll fall in love with you one of these days."

"Hmph," she flipped her hair, "or maybe I just need a real man. You down to answer the call?"

"Space is taken!" called Lisa, revealing herself sitting next to him. Gabriel shrugged as Lisa stared her down.

"Guess not." she conceded, walking back to her team, "Oh, Josh?"

Ruby had pulled Nate just out of earshot of everyone else, and immediately began reprimanding him, "No! We don't fraternise with the enemy!"

"But Gabriel-"

"Gabriel's not in this alliance," her eyes glared directly into his soul, "and I trust that he's smart enough not to jeopardise the team."

"Hey…" Nate whined, hurt.

"Don't act shocked."

"I wasn't, I think I was just hurt."

"Whatever. Don't trust everything I say I'm still on a monster caffeine rush. Just stay awake and avoid Ysabel. She's just trying to use you."

"I wouldn't mind." the beginning of a smirk began to play on his face.

Ruby slapped him, "And that's why I said what I said. Go. Don't fall asleep."

"Yes, ma'am." he muttered, slinking off to sit next to Ajay.

Ruby looked around, "I'm gonna need more than just him in this alliance, aren't I?"

As the evening dragged on, movement around the campground slowed. The prevailing sound was of yawning, but yet no one had fallen asleep yet. That was about to change. Ruby had her eye on Sascia and Indira, who had been sat together the whole day, trying to keep each other awake, but their efforts were failing. As the sun fell beneath the horizon and night began, they swayed side to side, threatening to fall.

"Hey, Indy?" Sascia asked, blinking away sleep. She didn't answer, eyelids heavy. "Hey, stay with me!" she implored.

"I'm just gonna…" Indira began, before yawning, and falling flat on her face, fast asleep.

"No…" Sascia whispered, her eyes also closing.

"Hey!" Ruby appeared behind her, jolting her into full consciousness with an "Ah!"

Chris' whisper came on the loudspeaker, "That's the first one down for the Gophers! Ten left on each team. Good luck kids." He then cleared his throat, and spoke much louder, "Wake up Indira!"

"Huh?" she started, "Ugh, did I fall asleep?"

"Duh!" said Ruby, tapping her foot at mach speeds, "Go to bed go to the cabin go go sleep away from here!"

"Um… Okay." Indira slunk off to her bed, sluggishly, "Good luck guys!"

Sascia waved her off, "Enjoy the sleep!"

"Hey, Sascia," Ruby said, as soon as Indira had disappeared from view, "I have an offer for you, huh?"

"Oh… What is it?" she yawned.

"I was thinking, hey, wouldn't you like to, y'know, go far in the competition?"

"I mean… I guess?"

"Well, I think I can help you out there. What would you say to an offer of an alliance?"

"With you?"

"Yeah! Well, me and Nate." Ruby grinned, hopping from foot to foot. Sascia pondered the question, "Hey, c'mon I haven't got all day chop chop c'mon!"

"I guess so, yeah." Sascia conceded.

"Great!" Ruby jumped into the air, "So whatever. Try not to go to sleep and we'll talk after the challenge, kay? Bye!" And with that she ran away to look around the rest of the team.

"Okay," Sascia said, yawning.

"She has got a lot of energy…" Bella remarked.

"Well, she'll crash soon. Then we'll be screwed." Gabriel said, and Lisa nodded along, clinging onto his arm.

 **Confessional**

Sascia: I feel bad not being in an alliance with Indy, but I could do worse than having Ruby have my back.

Ruby: Wahey more cannon fodder, woohoo! Go Ruby!

 **End**

"Okay, teams are even, people are sleeping…" Lucas muttered to himself, "Gotta keep awake. This is where the going gets tough. This is where the tough get going." He slapped himself, "Just stay awake longer than their team. Just stay awake longer than Gabriel. Just win for the team, baby."

Elijah, Oswald and Lee were watching, enthralled. "It's like watching a serial killer convince themselves they're in the right." Elijah whispered.

"Dude…" Oswald muttered, yawning.

"That's…" Lee began to protest, "I mean… Hey, I can see it."

"So…" Elijah got up onto his haunches, "Who's gonna drop first?"

"I don't trust Ronald." Oswald suggested. They looked back at the boy, who was intensely staring directly forward.

"I don't think he's gonna fall asleep. Ever." Elijah said as they continued to stare at the boy.

"Don't sleep…" Ronald muttered to himself.

Lee looked around, "Josh. Definitely."

"Huh?" the boys turned. Ysabel was leaning up on Josh, and his face was a bright red with effort not to fall asleep, and also because a girl was actually touching him.

"Give it a second…" they leant forward with anticipation.

"... And I was like, no I'm going on that island!" Ysabel was telling Josh, not looking at him, "They'll all be three times the man you are!"

"Uh-huh!" Josh said, "I am… def… inite…" And with that he was out cold.

"That's one down for the Bass!" Chris confirmed over the speaker.

 **Confessional**

Chris: I figure it's better to let 'em sleep actually. Also make them figure out who's out. Mark Josh off the list

*Chef crossed over Josh's face with a large red X on a sheet on the board containing all the contestants. There was a black box where Lorelei's head would've been.

 **End**

"Ugh, who's asleep?" Ysabel asked, looking around, then turning to see Josh snoring just behind her. "Ew, Josh did you fall asleep?"

Josh woke up, "Uh yeah, whatever you say," he squeaked.

"Oh my… Just go to your cabin. Let the real contestants play." she spat.

"Yeah, I need a nap…" he muttered, walking to the cabin like a zombie.

"Are there no men on this island?" she asked, playing with her hair.

"Me!" Lucas cried, standing up, before falling flat on his face. Asleep.

"Ugh." she said, folding her arms.

"That's eight left on the Bass, ten for the Gophers!" Chris announced, "Chef, cross off Lucas."

"Turn off the PA." Chef advised him.

"Oh ri-" Chris was abruptly cut off.

Sabrina rolled her eyes and poked Lucas with her toe. "Huh?" he sputtered awake, "Oh, yeah, man on the way!"

"Just go to the cabin and go to bed." Sabrina shook her head.

"Yeah… Man nap…" he murmured as he walked off.

 **Confessional**

Ysabel: I was expecting to be swarmed by boys. Everyone's either stupid, ugly or under lock and key on the other team. Ugh!

Lucas: I blew it! How did I blow it?... I blew it!

 **End**

It was approaching midnight and the rest of the campers had somehow remained awake. Bella, Gabriel and Lisa sat in a circle, Lisa talking at the other two as they struggled to keep their eyes open; Edwin, Louise and Clive sat with Ajay, tossing around a pinecone they had found; Ruby had her eye on Nate and Sascia, who were talking intermittently, struggling to find things to say, as she bounced around their side of the campsite.

On the Bass' side, Elijah, Oswald and Lee were still huddled around a stump, making jokes and observations to keep themselves occupied; Ronald stared into the campfire, which had been lit at some point unknown to all the other campers; Sabrina and Ysabel sat together, the former trying to keep the latter's attention as she kept craning her neck to peer around at the others; and Ophelia and Ivan bookended the team, Ophelia having no problem staying awake, and Ivan keeping himself occupied with acrobatics and handstands.

Bella yawned, "Okay, this is getting hard now."

"Really? It's only midnight?" Lisa asked, leaning over Gabriel to stare into her eyes.

"Yeah, that's late!" she replied.

"Aw… Well…" she pondered. "Well, I think you can fall asleep. Me and Gabes here can hold down the fort." she squeezed her face up to his.

His eyes widened, and he mouthed "No, no, please don't, I wanna live" at her.

Bella grinned, and yawned, "Yeah… That's probably fair… I could just… Rest my eyes…" and with that she let go of consciousness.

"Nine left for the Gophers!"

Gabriel looked angrily at Bella, then turned and smiled at Lisa, "Guess it's just you and me."

"Yeah it is!" she beamed, "So… You like… Music?

 **Confessional**

Gabriel: I hate you Bella. I mean I guess there's nothing wrong with Lisa but I don't wanna be stuck with her for a whole night without relief!

Bella: Oh it was worth it so see the look on his face. Even if we lose I'd do it a thousand times over.

 **End**

Edwin tossed the pinecone over to Ajay, who tossed it to Louise, who tossed it to Clive, who cried "Switch up!" and tossed it back to Louise. It hit her square in the temple.

"Eight left for the Gophers!"

"Aw, no Louise!" Edwin whined, shaking her up, "You're not supposed to fall asleep!"

"Oh, yeah!" she yawned, "I forgot… Might as well go to bed. Seeya boys."

The boys looked at each other awkwardly as she left, skipping back to the cabin, before settling their eyes on the ground. Clive coughed. Ajay sighed, "So, time to nut up. I guess."

"Yeah. Hey, at least there's no chicken hats this time?" Clive offered, placing a hand on Ajay's shoulder.

He shivered, "Don't remind me. That was humiliating. Not just the hat but the mocking."

Clive looked at Edwin, who shrugged. "I mean, that sucks man but it's in the past. We've gotta move past it. You don't want that to define your season. I mean look at Lorelei. All everyone's gonna remember about her was yesterday." Clive tried to sound supportive.

"Oh no this is broadcast TV isn't it?" he suddenly started spinning around looking for cameras.

"Hey, man," Edwin interrupted, "don't worry about it. Hey! Just… change the narrative. Make the rest of your season great."

"Yeah…" he considered, "I can do that."

"At least paranoia keeps you awake." Clive noted. Ajay chuckled.

"Six left for the Gophers!" Chris' voice rang across the campsite.

"What?" Ruby screeched, leaping onto a stump. She looked around and, sure enough, Nate and Sascia were sound asleep, leaning on each other's shoulders. "You guys!" she hopped off and stood in front of them.

"Oh… Yeah…" Nate said, rubbing his eyes.

"We didn't mean to Ruby." Sascia offered.

"Whatever. Get off the battlefield and let the real soldiers fight." she flipped her hair and went back to stalking around the area.

They looked at each other and shrugged, heading back off towards the cabins.

 **Confessional**

Nate: Hey, Sascia was kinda cool. I don't know why we didn't talk earlier. Oh yeah I do. It's 'cause Ruby's obsessed with me. Bet she doesn't know she just set us up.

Sascia: I mean once you get past Nate's… We'll call it his shell, he's actually decent. I enjoyed talking to him. Which I absolutely didn't expect.

 **End**

Ronald was slowly losing control, "Stay… Awake…" he muttered, slowly leaning forward toward the campfire.

"Oh my God!" Lee yelped, rushing over to push Ronald back in his seat before he singed himself.

He responded with a "Huh?" and promptly fell off his seat backwards instead. Lee strode around to his side, and held his head. He looked into her eyes and said, "Night night mommy." before shutting his eyes and contentedly snoring.

"That's five for the Gophers!"

"Huh?" Lee turned to see Oswald and Elijah asleep in each other's arms. "Aw." she said, and, unwilling to wake them up, went to sit by Ophelia, "Hey girl, how you holding up?"

"Piece of cake." she responded, barely bothering to look up at her. She was picking at her blue nail polish, flicking it into the flames. "Staying up late is the one thing I do well."

"I'm sure that's not true…" Lee said, sitting beside her, "What's that on your shirt?"

"Band."

"Anyone I would know?"

"No."

"Oh, cool. It's good to have an interest."

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing, I guess." And with that she walked away, defeated to sit with Sabrina and Ysabel. "Would you look at that? All four girls still up."

"Huh," Sabrina looked around, "I guess that's true."

"Yeah, the boys just couldn't handle this one." Ysabel flicked her hair.

"Well, on our team at least." Lee sighed and looked at the Gophers.

"Hey speaking of which, where's Ruby?" Ysabel asked.

"Why do you care?" Sabrina asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Well for your information," Ysabel glared right back, "she's the one keeping me away from their team."

"And why do you wanna be over there?"

"I'm gonna get in their heads." Ysabel looked smug, "Look, there's a group of three boys there, I know I could tear them apart."

"I don't doubt that to be fair." Sabrina admitted, looking up at Lee.

"Yeah… Just don't try Gabriel… He seems turned on."

"Oh I'm sure," Ysabel smirked, "seeing how the small one's draped all over him."

Lee's head whipped up, "That's not what I-". She spotted Lisa pressing herself up against him, as he looked around distressed, and stopped talking and started smiling. He soon caught her eye. She raised an eyebrow, and he responded with a grimace and an eye roll. He mouthed, "Not my choice" at her. She giggled a little. "Oh, I'm sure he's just fine."

Lisa looked up and saw them smiling at one another. She grabbed his head and turned him back to her, and seemed to hiss at her. Lee was taken aback. Ysabel looked up then back down at her hands, "Yeah I don't know what's up with her either."

Lisa licked her lips a little, "So yeah, music?"

"Um…" he began, mind going a thousand miles an hour, "I mean I mostly like these little indie bands-"

"Oh tell me!" she pushed deeper, "I'm always looking for new stuff."

"Okay. Like, the Flying Poisonous Occurrence, Audio Receptor, Clara Williams, Unwritten Decades, the Skyfalls-"

"Oh okay that's cool." she interrupted, rambling, "I mostly like whatever's on the radio. I mean I don't listen to much music. I like games though, do you game?"

"Five left for the Gophers!" Chris announced.

Gabriel turned to find Ruby passed out face-first on a stump. He kissed his teeth, "Caffeine crash. Saw that coming."

"Yeah me too." Lisa nodded, "Shame, how many left for us?"

"Um… Five?" Gabriel said, aware that Chris had just said how many.

"Oh yeah, duh…" she blushed, "Haha…"

It went silent. Gabriel sighed.

 **Confessional**

Gabriel: I mean a whole night? A whole night!

Ruby: Ugh, last night ended rough. I had too much caffeine. Definitely. Damn.

Lisa: Oh it's going so well. So well! I can't believe I got to be alone with him that easily!

 **End**

"Okay, since we're down to the final ten, time to make things interesting!" Chris announced on the loudspeaker, "Hey Chef you have your mixtape?"

"Sure do Chris." Chef said, before laughing.

"I'm scared." Gabriel said, to no one in particular.

"I'll protect you." Lisa whispered into his ear.

Light, lilting piano music came over the system, and Ophelia groaned, "Noooo! Come on! That's just torture."

Ajay, Clive and Edwin joined hands in a circle and started swaying together, singing along to the heart-broken lyrics.

In his trailer Chris frowned, "I was hoping for a better reaction."

"Give it time." Chef told him, "It always works."

And sure enough, it began to work. Sabrina started yawning. Ysabel's eyes went wide, "Oh, no don't you start yawning, cause then I'm gonn-" she was interrupted by a yawn.

Lee yawned too, "I'm gonna go… See what…" but as she stood up, she wobbled, "On second thought, a nap sounds good."

"Lee no…" Sabrina murmured, also drifting off.

"Three Bass left." Chris whispered.

Ysabel desperately looked around. She noticed Lisa singing along right in Gabriel's face, who looked like he was about to burst. She reached out her arms. He shook his head, and she succumbed to sleep.

"Two Bass remain, and two Gophers." Chris announced as the song finished, as Edwin, Clive and Ajay sighed, falling back into dreamland. "Would the remaining contestants please move to the centre of the campgrounds."

The final sleepers were removed from the area, and the final four left awake were ushered together, Ivan and Ophelia staring down Lisa and Gabriel. Gabriel looked around, "Yeah I'm not surprised it's you three left." Lisa laughed at this.

"Oh yeah," Ophelia asked, folding her arms, "why's that?"

"Well he's straight outta a secret military complex where they built the perfect man."

"Thank you." Ivan beamed, "You too."

"And you look like you're nocturnal. No offence. Nice shirt by the way."  
"Oh yeah- Really? You know them?" she pulled at the fabric of her shirt.

"Yeah, the Flying Poisonous Occurence are my absolute favourite band."

"Wow, good taste." Ophelia nodded, "Shame you have to lose now."

"Shame to let you win." he smirked.

"The Flying Poisonous…" Lisa mused, "Where have I heard that before?"

"I mentioned them earlier." Gabriel told her.

"Oh yeah you did. Haha." she laughed. He sighed. Ophelia opened her eyes wide.

 **Confessional**

Ophelia: I hope you realise why I kept myself to myself. Gabriel looked exhausted. It would've been sad if it wasn't hilarious.

Ivan: Stupid small confessional. Bah, I barely realised we had contest. When do you give hard ones?

 **End**

Chris walked up to the final four, sipping on coffee, "So congrats guys, you've almost made it til the sun comes up. And this is after the early start, the running, the feast, the music… That's real impressive. You're all winners in my book." There was no reaction to that. "Ahem. But now, we've got to choose an actual winner. At least two of you are gonna have to head off to dreamland. Who's it gonna be?"

"Them?" Gabriel asked. Lisa cackled and slapped his arm.

"Well, we have got one last trick up our sleeves. How's about I read to you from this old chemistry textbook? Expanded university edition." Everyone groaned at that. "And that is the perfect reaction I wanted!" Chris grinned, stealing a glance at the camera. "Here goes. Chapter one: Stoichiometric Relationships…"

"Urgh, no… Flashbacks." Gabriel moaned, his eyes shutting.

"No, Gabes, stay with me!" Lisa begged.

He considered for a moment, then shut his eyes, and let sleep take him. "Ooh, tough break. One down immediately for the Gophers. It's all on you, Lisa." Chris grinned, "Now where was I?"

Ivan leant over to talk to Ophelia, "We are close to victory, yes? Good job team?"

"Don't talk to me." she growled.

"Why?" he asked, clutching his heart.

"I don't need to make friends." she turned on him, "I don't want to interact with you. I'm here to win, and for that I need to beat all of you."

"Da, but for now…" he offered, "We are team, no?"

"I don't care." she huffed, "I barely wanted to be here. I don't need you."

"That was mean." he said, upset.

"Whatever." she replied.

He stood up and moved a stump away from her, genuinely saddened by her reaction. She looked back and felt a pang of guilt. She was going to say something, before Chris spoke up, "Congrats Ivan and Ophelia! You guys are the victorious members of the Killer Bass."

She turned to see Lisa curled up into a ball, snoring lightly. "Oh." she turned to Ivan, who was smiling now, even if his eyes betrayed his feelings. "Whatever." she muttered, "I'm gonna go to sleep all day, thanks."

"Enjoy it! You've earned it!" Chris called after her as she slunk back to bed. "What about you big fella."

"Sleep sounds good." he smiled, "And so does victory." He leapt up onto a stump, struck a hero pose, then cartwheeled back to his cabin.

Chris looked down the camera lens and shrugged, before turning to Lisa and Gabriel, "Wake up Gophers! You've got a major decision to make in the next hour. Someone's going home!"

Gabriel arrived back in the boys' cabin to the others, awaiting news. He looked around, "We've gotta choose someone to leave."

"Darn," Edwin clicked his fingers, "who's it gonna be?"

"Well, I have a suggestion." said Nate, puffing his chest out.

At that moment, Ruby burst the door open, "Just borrowing Nate." She grabbed his arm and yanked him outside.

"What's all that about?" Ajay asked, looking around incredulously. Clive shrugged.

"Guess we've got our first camp romance." Edwin chuckled.

"I heard that!" Ruby yelled. Edwin flinched.

"Who cares, I'm too tired." Gabriel yawned, "But I do have an idea on who should go."

"I'm listening." Ajay leaned in.

Outside, Ruby had Sascia and Nate sitting in front of her, "Well, since Lisa and Gabriel couldn't hack it, looks like someone has to leave. This is where the alliance comes in."

Nate smiled and rubbed his hands together, "Ooh, yeah, time for some righteous justice." Sascia stifled a laugh. Ruby raised an eyebrow at her.

She shrugged sheepishly, "It was funny."

"What was?" Nate asked, oblivious.

"Well, whatever it was," Ruby continued, "I think we've just gotta trim the fat at this point."

"Gotcha." Nate said gleefully, "Gabriel is outta here."

"No, we could use him for now." Ruby mused, stroking her chin, "Plus it would never work, how does it make sense to vote out the person who almost won the challenge?"

With that, Gabriel swung open the cabin door. Ruby glared at him. He shut it behind him, and stepped forwards cautiously, "I'm sorry to interrupt your little alliance, but I may have a suggestion for you."

On the other side, Ophelia entered her cabin to the expectant girls. "Well?" Lee asked.

"Oh, yeah, we won." she shrugged.

"Yeah! Not voting someone out!" Sabrina punched the air, before lying down again, "Ugh, it's sleepy time."

Ysabel put on a pink, frilled sleep mask, "I agree, that was a lot of effort for just not sleeping."

"But don't you want to know who leaves?" Lee asked, blinking away the notion of sleep.

Ophelia walked over to her bed and lay down, shutting her eyes, "Oh I think I've got a good idea."  
"Ooh, what do you think?" Lee asked, sounding probably too worried for Ophelia's taste.

She opened one eye, "I'm gonna guess the guy who blew the ending. Hard." And with that, she fell asleep with a big smile plastered on her face.

"What does that mean? Is that Gabriel?" Lee asked. But everyone else in the cabin was fast asleep. She looked out the window and sighed. She'd just have to wait till morning.

"Welcome, Screaming Gophers, to your first Elimination Ceremony!" Chris announced, as the team filed into the campgrounds yet again.

"Y'know, I'm sick of this place right now, we couldn't do this anywhere else?" Gabriel moaned.

"No." Chris smiled, and then began his speech for the second and final time in its entirety: "Campers. Here at camp, marshmallows are many things. They are a sweet gooey treat. An ingredient in s'mores. Great for throwing at your friends. But here at Camp Wawanakwa, they represent even more. They represent life. Your extended time at camp. The respect your fellow campers have for you. Campers I only have 10 marshmallows on this plate. One of you will not receive a marshmallow. That person will be eliminated from Total Drama, and forced to walk down the Dock of Shame, board the Boat of Losers, and never return. Ever. Now, you may all enter the confessional and cast your votes."

Once the voting was over, Chris motioned to stand in front of the fire, the emerging sunrise to his back, "Now, your votes have been counted. Your fates are sealed. And sadly for one of you, that fate leads elsewhere." The Gophers sat, mainly hollow, all sleep-deprived, Gabriel having particular problems keeping his eyes open. Lisa, on the other hand, was feeling fairly chipper, still needing little sleep. Ruby looked around, grinning maniacally, feeling confident in the power her alliance gave her.

Chris surveyed the campers, "The first ever marshmallow for the Screaming Gophers goes to…

Gabriel."

He blinked once, then stood up to collect his token of invincibility. For now.

"Next: Ruby. Nate. Sascia. Ajay." The four joined Gabriel by Chris.

"Edwin… Louise… Clive…"

This left three still sitting: Indira, Bella, and Lisa. The three began to look around warily, each fearing they had messed up in some way.

"Indira… You were the first to fall asleep." Chris began to ratchet up the tension. "Bella… You abandoned a team mate for a little bit of petty glory. Lisa… You couldn't finish the game and claim the win for your team.

The next marshmallow goes to… Indira."

Indira gasped, and grinned from ear to ear as she rushed up to receive her prize.

Bella and Lisa glanced at each other.

"The last marshmallow goes to...

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

Bella."

Bella breathed a sigh of relief, and walked up to collect her marshmallow. Lisa sat in shock, "But… Why… Gabriel?" He wouldn't meet her eyes. She sniffed, and stood up, "I'm sorry… I guess. Good luck for the rest of the competition. I'll be watching." She walked, head hung low, past the contestants. Gabriel frowned. Ruby grinned. Edwin and Louise had a fake sword fight with the sticks their marshmallows were on.

Lisa walked down the dock of shame, dejectedly and clambered on board the boat of losers. Chef turned back from the wheel, "Don't feel bad, kid. It's all a big game in the end. Only one person can win it."

"Yeah," she sniffed, wiping her face with her sleeve, "I should just be glad it happened.

"Atta girl." Chef smiled, "Next stop: outta here."

Back on land, Chris turned to a camera, "Well, how was that for dramatic? And it only goes up from here! We'll be back with more shocking, intense, mind-bending, heart-wrenching drama next week, on Total! Drama! Island!"

 **22nd:** Lorelei

 **21st:** Lisa

 **Screaming Gophers:** **Bella, Edwin, Gabriel, Ajay, Louise, Indira,** Lisa, **Ruby, Nate, Sascia, Clive**

 **Killer Bass: Ivan, Lee,** Lorelei, **Lucas, Elijah, Ophelia, Oswald, Ronald, Ysabel, Sabrina, Josh**

 **A/N: This train keeps moving. Honestly, I love writing these characters and I feel I'm properly getting into a rhythm with the uploading and completing an all. Here's to more of this. Next time it's dodgeball baby. Let's go. As always, feedback, reviews are appreciated. Forgive any spelling mistakes please, there's a lot of words and I usually write pretty late. See you next time? (Please?) Anyway, enjoy!**


	4. Episode 4

**Chapter 4**

It is the night of Lisa's elimination. The Gophers slink back to their cabins, disappointed to have lost the first of their number. Edwin yawns, "Man, we better not have to be up early again tomorrow…"

"I think that was a special early challenge," Bella blinked slowly, "so we just gotta make the most of the sleep we get…"

"Agreed." Indira nodded, stumbling over nothing.

"Night guys!" Clive called over his shoulder as he pushed open the door of the cabin, falling straight into his bunk, face down on the pillow. The rest of the team followed suit, most not saying anything, heads hung low. Only one remained outside. Gabriel blinked once. Twice. Then turned to the outhouse confessional.

 **Confessional**

Gabriel: I… I don't know how much sleep I'll be getting… I never knew these decisions would be so hard. I mean I feel bad! Lisa didn't deserve it. But this is just the way it has to be… These are the decisions we have to make… $100,000 decisions. And well, I can't lose now.

 **End**

The following morning, Chris sat having breakfast across from Chef in their production tent, reading the notes for today, "Buh, buh, buh… Dodgeball. Simple right?"

Chef nodded, "I can referee if you want. I worked at a rec centre for a year or two after my service."

"That would help," Chris smiled, "thanks. How was it?"

"Worst two years of my life." Chef laughed.

Chris chortled, "Referee many dodgeball games?"

"A few. Coupla regional qualifying rounds. People get serious over dodgeball competitions."

"I can imagine." Chris tapped the notes on the table, straightening them, "Right, it's…" he checked his watch, "11:25. Let's get moving."

"I'll get me uniform on." Chef nodded, heading to his trailer.

"They've got the court set up on the beach. Be there at half twelve."  
"I gotchu buddy!"

Chris smiled, standing and fixing his hair. An intern stuck his head into the tent, "We're ready for you Mr McLean."

"Gotcha." Chris gave him a thumbs up, got up, and left the tent, heading for the dock.

Chris stood on the dock and gave the producers a thumbs up. A camera swept across the area, then zoomed in on him, "Welcome back to Total Drama Island!" he grinned, flashing his teeth, "Last time, our contestants were subjected to an early start followed by a 10k run, but they were justly rewarded with a giant breakfast - the best they'll be having for a long time now." he chuckled, "But then the real challenge came: stay awake! It was much harder for some than others, but in the end it came down to Ivan and Ophelia for the Bass vs Lisa and Gabriel for the Gophers. After being pestered by Lisa all night, Gabriel gave up, and Lisa wasn't far behind, giving the Bass the victory! But, in a shocking twist of fate, it was Lisa who took the dock of shame after Gabriel convinced everyone to kick her off. Ouch! Now the teams are even again, who can come out of this episode the better? Will Gabriel's guilty conscience tear the Gophers apart? Will the Bass stop being so obsessed with the Gophers? Who knows? We all will after this, the next episode of Total! Drama! Island!"

"Okay, cut, great work Chris!"

"Thanks guys!" Chris waved to them, before turning, "Time for my favourite part." An intern arrived holding up the speaker for the camp's PA system, Chris took it with a "Thank you." and raised it to his lips, "Gooood Morning campers!" he yelled into the receiver, "You've got your third challenge in one hour! Meet me on the beach, and don't be late! Ha ha!"

Ruby sat bolt upright, smacking her head on the bed above her, "Ouch!" then, realising what this meant, "Oh, man, another challenge…"

Louise stuck her head over the side of her bed on top of Ruby's, grinning and hanging over the side to see her, "I know, right! Isn't it great! We'll be done in like a week's time! And then it's a whole summer party!"

Ruby pursed her lips, "Yeah, for you maybe. Some of us are actually gonna go far."

Louise's face fell, "Oh… okay…"

Ruby rolled her eyes, "Ugh, I'm just tired don't… I just don't understand how you can be so chipper after we lost the last one!"

Louise looked up to Lisa's now empty bunk, "Yeah it's a shame… But hey it just means the teams are even, right?"

Bella sat up and yawned, "Yeah and it's not like we lost anything."

Indira was lying on her stomach on her bed, "Wasn't she like the last person standing?"

"I'm sure her ability to not go to sleep would've come up later in the competition you're right, my bad." she retorted. Indira frowned.

"Yeah, whatever." Ruby said, grabbing two towels from her bag, "You heard the man. One hour. Get ready. We are not losing two in a row. Coming Sash?" She smiled and turned sweetly to Sascia.

"Huh?" Sascia sat up, hair sticking every which way.

"You're gonna want to have a shower before the hot water runs out, right?"

"Oh, yeah, sure gimme a second." Sascia leaped out of bed and began picking up shampoo, conditioner and a plethora of other bottles. Ruby held the door open as they both headed out of the cabin.

"That… Was weird." Indira murmured, a little hurt that Sascia didn't even notice her.

"Yeah, when did that happen?" Louise asked, jerking a thumb towards the door.

Bella shrugged, "I don't know… But I don't like it…"

 **Confessional**

Sascia: Okay, I was not about to annoy Ruby after just one day in an alliance. It may be my best chance at getting anywhere…

Bella: That's suspicious. I don't know what Ruby has over her but I don't like that. Not one bit.

Indira: I… I thought me and Sash were like… Close… When did she and Ruby…?

 **End**

In the boys' side of the Gopher cabins, Gabriel was once again sitting up as the announcement rang out across camp. Edwin blinked himself awake and noticed him, "Dude, I would've thought you'd have been sleeping a little deeper after last night y'know?"

Deep, dark bags hung below Gabriel's eyes as he slowly shook his head, "Couldn't… Sleep… Like at all…" he said, staring at the ground.

"Dude," Ajay knitted his eyebrows, "are you good?"

He shrugged, "Tired. Need a shower." And with that, he picked up a towel and left.

Edwin glanced around the room, "That's not good."

"No way man. We can't be an extra man down again." Ajay shook his head.

Clive sat up and rubbed his eyes before putting his glasses on, "Well, there's nothing we can do about it, y'know?"

Nate nodded vigorously, climbing off of his top bunk, "Yeah, just gotta let him deal with it. We'll be good. We don't need him, honestly."

Edwin pouted, "I don't know, if it's like a physical thing I want him on our side." Ajay nodded, "Like, he's bigger than us. And he tanked the last one."

Nate shook his head, "Nah, man, think about the bigger picture. He's not that needed, is he? C'mon what proof do we have?"

"You got something to say about him?" Clive smirked lightly, catching on.

"No!" Nate yelled, before clearing his throat, "I mean I'm just saying. It's been two days. We don't know anything yet y'know."

Ajay grinned down at Clive and shared a glance with Edwin, "Sure, Nate."

 **Confessional**

Nate: Heh, I think I convinced 'em. Soon he'll be out of my way for good.

Clive: What's Nate's beef, man? Weird little man.

 **End**

Over in the girls' side of the Bass cabin, Ysabel woke with a start, immediately checking her clock, "Oh no! I overslept!" she cried, "Stupid awake-a-thon challenge thing!"

Lee blinked awake, "Huh?"

"I overslept!" she restated.

"No you didn't…?" Sabrina said, "The challenge isn't for another hour."

Ysabel rolled her eyes, "What I mean is, I usually get up early, have a shower and get ready, I cannot imagine what it's gonna be like now!" She hurriedly bustled together bottles of hair product and raced out the door. Sabrina cocked an eyebrow at Lee, who shrugged, allowing herself to fall back down onto her bed with a sigh.

Sabrina stood up and stretched her back, "Problem?"

Lee shook her head, "Tired."

Sabrina smirked, "Aren't we all? I think that was the point."

"I'm not!" Ophelia smiled maliciously, hopping off her bunk, "Perfectly fine."

"How?" Sabrina questioned, rubbing her eyes.

She shrugged, "Used to it."

"Hope you're used to winning challenges then, cause you may be the only one of us awake halfway through this one."

"Haven't I already proved how good I am?" She replied, opening her drawer and picking out a new band tee.

Suddenly, Ysabel burst back in, seething, "Can't we have more than three showers? Ugh, Who knows how long I'll have to wait!"

"And you think it'd be better to wait in here rather than having first dibs there?" Sabrina asked.

Ysabel's eyes grew wide, "No way!" She ran outside, crying, "No one gets in there before me!"

Iin the Bass boys' cabin, they were relatively calm. Elijah stood up, stretching, and met Oswald's eyes as he sat up, "Mornin'."

"Mornin'." He yawned.

Lucas stretched his arms and cracked his knuckles, "Feels good to wake up a winner again."

"Damn right." Elijah agreed.

"Da." came a voice from the rafters, as Ivan jumped down, fully dressed, to meet them.

"Dude… How?" Oswald asked, eyes wide.

"It is challenge time, yes?"

"We… Have an hour." Lucas blinked.

"Ah." Ivan mused, tapping his chin, "I have time, then?" And with that, he left, jogging out the door and turning left.

"Amazing." Oswald shook his head, "Every time I start thinking, maybe he isn't that much better than us…"

"Better than you maybe." Josh smirked, hopping up out of bed and flexing, causing Lucas to roll his eyes, "I'm perfectly comfortable around him."

At that time, Ysabel ran out of the cabin the second time, screeching, "No one gets in there before me!"

"I believe I hear my girlfriend asking for someone to wait with her in line." he smirked, "Later losers." He strode outside, whistling along the way.

Elijah didn't know whether to laugh or be sincerely worried, "What's gotten into his head?"

"Did I miss something last night?" Oswald added.

"Why does he think she's his girlfriend?" Lucas asked, cutting to the chase.

"Girlfriend…" Ronald mumbled, face down in his pillow.

Elijah stepped back and clutched at his chest, "God, I forgot he was there!"

"Did he sleep like that all night?" Oswald whispered, as all three boys stared at Ronald.

"I'm… Gonna have a shower." Lucas said apprehensively, never taking his eyes away from the boy as he grabbed a towel.

"Shower…" Ronald murmured, getting up.

"Actually!" Elijah blurted, "I think I'm going to the mess hall to have a snack."

"Snack…" Ronald echoed.

Elijah turned to Oswald grinning. "No." Oswald warned.

"Yes!" Elijah said, voice bursting with excitement.

"Yes…" Ronald said, appearing behind him.

"Gah!" Elijah shouted, clutching his chest again.

 **Confessional**

Ysabel: How could I oversleep? Gah, then I had to wait in line with Josh… Ugh… Why do some people take so long!

Josh: I think I really am getting somewhere with Ysabel. Heh, it's only a matter of time… Not like in a creepy way!

Elijah: Ooh, am I gonna have fun with this. I think a tired Ronald is even more fun than the regular one.

Oswald: *Shaking his head... I worry about that boy sometimes… Oh yeah, and Ronald's a little weird too.

 **End**

Fifty minutes later, many of the campers were filing into a large glass building that had been erected on the beach, complete with hardwood floors and bleachers next to an outlined court, with an umpire's seat separating the bleachers. Above each bleacher hung a flag: one red with the symbol of the Bass, and one green with the Gophers' symbol. Gabriel was sat staring into nothing on the front row of the Gophers' bleacher. Clive walked in and looked around, "How do they get this stuff set up so quickly?" he mused, hands in his pockets. Gabriel shrugged, never moving his eyes. "You good man?" he pressed, sitting down next to him.

"Just couldn't sleep," he yawned, "and I guess it's been a rough morning."

Clive knitted his brows, "How so?"

At this point, Ysabel strode in, having showered and gotten made up in record time. She walked up to the boys, and sat to the other side of Gabriel and leant back, "Hey baby."

Gabriel closed his eyes, breathed, and turned to Clive, "They need to put locks on the shower doors." Clive's eyes widened.

"Aw, come on." Ysabel smiled, "I didn't see anything I didn't like."

"Wow, that makes me feel better."

"Next time shower quicker. And don't fall asleep." she winked, "Or do, I'm fine with that." She bit her lip and stood up, striding to the Bass' bench.

Gabriel stared at the ground, "Not a fantastic experience for me."

Clive squinted for a second, "Hey, why don't you just, like, lie at the back for a minute. Y'know, get some rest. You'd probably just be a hindrance. I mean," he gestured to the court. "It's clearly a sports thing."

Gabriel nodded slowly, "Yeah I will, But, if you do need me-"

"Yeah, of course." Clive smiled, "Don't worry about it."

"Thanks," he smiled, climbing the bleachers to lay on the topmost bench.

 **Confessional**

Gabriel: I don't get why the showers don't have locks anyway. Y'all need to get on that.

Ysabel: I mean, Josh was just, like, pestering me and like I was desperate to get moving. He's got nothing to hide though, I don't get why he's so sensitive.

 **End**

The bleachers began filling up as the clock hit 12:25 as everyone sat around waiting for the last few stragglers to arrive. Josh sat next to Ysabel, blushing intensely, Elijah and Oswald were sat right in front of them. "So, like you know how the showers don't have locks on them?" Ysabel giggled as she continued the story she was telling to Lee. Josh's blush somehow got even deeper. Elijah turned at this moment, and noticed him doing his best tomato impression.

"Dude, something up?"

Ysabel turned, and stifled a laugh, "Aw, something embarrassing you, Joshy?"

"N-no!" he said, "It's just… Hot in here!"

"I mean, you're not sweating, mate." Oswald smirked.

"It's just… I mean… Shut up…" Josh conceded.

"Oh my God, can you believe this, Lee?" Ysabel turned to her, but Lee wasn't listening. She was counting the Gophers left. "Um, hello?" Ysabel waved her hand in front of her face, "Earth to Lee!"

"Huh?" Lee blinked.

"You seem a little out of it today." Ysabel frowned.

"I'm just…" her brow furrowed, "I guess trying to work out who they voted out."

Elijah leaned over too and did a quick count, "Wow, looks like they voted out four people…"

Ysabel rolled her eyes, "It was probably that one girl. Y'know the one."

"I don't think I do…" Elijah admitted.

"Exactly." she smirked.

"Anyway!" Josh suddenly burst out, causing the whole team to look at him, startled, "I mean… Um, what do you reckon we're doing today?"

"If we have to melt an ice cube with our face I'm glad you're here." Oswald said.

"Shut up…" Josh said meekly.

 **Confessional**

Josh: I mean… I just like… It's weird! She just opened the door! Like… What! Then she just, like, ignored me afterwards… I don't think I can look Gabriel in the eye again…

 **End**

"I mean, I guess it's a sport." Lucas offered, trying to draw the attention off of Josh, "Like I don't know which one… There's no net, no hoop…"

"Yeah…" Lee mused, "Maybe it's gymnastics?"

"Oh, I'd love some gymnastics!" Ysabel clasped her hands together, "I am so good at those."

"The rest of us though…" Elijah offered.

"I mean I am." Lee said.

"Of course you are." Elijah said.

Lee ignored him, "But, I can see how I'm the exception…"

"I'm good at em." Lucas said, casually flexing his arms.

"You are?" Lee blinked.

"Um… I mean, I assume so." He shrugged. Sabrina rolled her eyes.

By 12:30, everyone had arrived. Ronald waddled through the door practically as soon as the clock struck, and Chris entered immediately after him. "Now that you're all here campers," he pushed Ronald forward a little, urging him towards the Bass bleachers, "I assume you're all waiting to hear today's challenge?" There were nods of approval around the room. "Well, today campers, you'll be competing in the ancient sporting contest of… Dodgeball!"

"Yes!" came a cry from Lucas. The Bass looked at him. He shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm good at dodgeball."

"Well okay then." Chris clapped his hands, "You better hope he's telling the truth. The rules are simple. There are six players on a team, and there are seven rubber balls in the centre. First team to win three games wins the challenge. If you are hit with a ball thrown at you anywhere on your body-"

"Even the face?" Ysabel asked, touching her cheek lightly.

"Yes, Ysabel, even the face," Chris grinned, "then you are eliminated from the round. So the best way to avoid that would be to dodge the ball."

"Oh that's why it's called that!" Oswald whispered to Elijah, who laughed quietly.

"But there are other ways to avoid getting eliminated. If you are holding a ball, you may deflect an incoming ball. Or, if you catch the ball, the person who threw that ball is out, and another player from your team is allowed to enter the game, provided you don't have six players on the court already. Balls that hit the ground are considered dead and playable anyway. You may not kick a ball to try and get someone out. You-"

"Are there really this many rules to dodgeball?" Bella asked, getting frustrated.

"Apparently. That's what our guest referee told me." Chris shrugged, "Speaking of which, welcome our special guest referee, Chef Hatchet!"

Chef entered, glowering, and stood next to Chris, addressing the campers, "Listen, I have refereed 'ball before and I will know if you are cheating or trying to gain an unfair advantage." He glared at Nate, who gulped. "My word is law. What I say goes. If you decide to argue with me, I reserve the right to eliminate you right then and there. Are we clear?"

"Yes Chef!" came the reply from the campers.

Chef's expression softened, and he laughed, "Alright then let's play some dodgeball! First teams out in two minutes. Game starts on my whistle."

Ruby immediately turned to her team, "Alright, guys, strongest team out first so that's me, Bella, Indira, Ajay… Where's Gabriel?"

"Sleeping on the top bench." Clive pointed up to him.

"Why's he doing that?"

"He didn't sleep last night. It'll be better for us if he's rested than if he's just out there."

"No it won't." she frowned, "Hey Ga-"

"No," Bella said, pressing her hand to Ruby's arm, "we'll wake him if we need him but for now, Clive's right." Clive smiled, smugly. "For now he's not part of our strongest team."  
Ruby scowled, but conceded, "Okay, fine, me, Bella, Ajay, Indira, Edwin and Sascia."

"Hey!" Nate protested.

"Don't lie to yourself." Bella said, standing up and heading towards the court with Edwin, Indira and Sascia. Ajay shrugged sheepishly at him as he got up, but didn't say anything. Nate folded his arms and huffed.

Clive looked at him, "Hey, we're in the same boat, mate."

Louise nodded, "Yeah, and I'm like suuuper good at dodgeball."

"Are you?" Clive said, surprised.

"Oh, yeah. Definitely." Louise nodded even more intensely.

"Well you should've mentioned." he said.

"Eh, there'll be a next time."

Nate rolled his eyes, but said nothing.

 **Confessional**

Nate: I can't believe they don't recognise how important I can be to the team. We don't have Gabriel, so I'm obviously the best replacement, right? Unbelievable.

Louise: Okay, so like I actually am really good at dodgeball. I did a regional qualifying match with my scouts group once. I mean we were playing against grown men so we didn't win but it was so fun.

 **End**

"Alright, so, first up, Ivan, me," Lucas said, looking around the group, "Um… Sabrina?"

Lee stood up alongside him, "Okay, guys, who wants to go up first?"

Everyone except Josh, Ophelia and Ysabel stuck their hands in the air, Lucas albeit reluctantly. Elijah looked around, "Alright, I can sit this one out, you guys go up first."

"Are you sure?" Lee asked.

"What, you want me in over Weapon X there?"

Ivan waved at them. Lee smiled, "Okay, you'll get your chance next time."

"All of you are playing next time." Lucas stepped in front of her, "You'll want a bit of the action quick anyway cause there's only gonna be three games." Ophelia raised an eyebrow.

"Okay Lucas." Lee mediated, "Let's get up there."

The six campers got up and huddled on the court. "Go Killer Bass!" Ysabel called after them.

"Hell yeah!" Elijah yelled.

"Hell yeah!" Ysabel echoed, laughing lightly.

"Whatever." Ophelia said.

"No team spirit?" Elijah asked, mock-pouting.

"What does it matter?" she spat back.

Elijah nodded, and turned around from her, "Alright then."

 **Confessional**

Ophelia: Honestly, I'm sick of the whole team spirit schtick. It's insane. Like they forgot that we're playing against each other.

Elijah: I mean, what's Lucas' deal? He seemed a good guy and he's fine in the cabin but when it comes to the challenges he's like… Awful

Lucas: Man, I just needed everyone to sit back and watch the show. But we've gotta be fair, ooh. Whatever.

 **End**

The first game was about to start as Chef raised the whistle to his lips. "Any strategy?" Ajay quickly asked Ruby.

She turned back to him, incredulous, "It's dodgeball…"

"Any strategy?" Oswald asked Lucas.

"Give the balls to the big guy." he responded, jerking a thumb to Ivan.

"Got it." Oswald nodded.

Chef blew the whistle and the game began. Everyone sprinted into the centre to try and grab a ball. Lucas arrived first, picked up a ball and launched it at the nearest Gopher. The ball hurtled towards Indira and she only just managed to look up in time. She gasped and brought her hand to her chest, cushioning the ball. Chef blew his whistle, "Lucas! Out!"

"What? H… How?" Lucas babbled.

"Get off the court Lucas!" yelled Ophelia from the bleachers.

"Jesus, okay…" Lucas muttered, still shocked, and ducked his way off the court, trying to avoid any projectiles.

Oswald watched him off, then looked at Ivan, "Here goes nothing… Ivan! Catch!" He threw his ball to Ivan, who caught it one-handed.

"Da." Ivan raised the ball and rocketed it at the Gophers, hitting Edwin square in the face.

"Oof!" Chris winced on the sideline.

Edwin toppled to the floor, clutching his face, "Ow!"

"Edwin!" Louise screamed from the sideline. Edwin lifted a thumbs up and she breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh thank God…"

"Edwin! Out!" Chef called, "... If you can still walk…"

"I'm good." he squeaked, scrambling off the court to Louise, who hugged him, then looked at his face.

"Ooh, that's gonna bruise…" she muttered.

"It doesn't hurt." Edwin tried to smile.

"Yes it does." she shook her head.

"Yeah it really does." he admitted.

 **Confessional**

Edwin: *Touching his black eye: Ow…

 **End**

Back on the court, Sabrina looked around, "Alright." she said, "All balls to Ivan I guess."

Ivan grinned, "Excellent."

The Bass kept feeding him balls and he kept rocketing them at the Gophers, who were stuck just attempting to avoid the mach speed cannonballs tossed their way.

Chef blew his whistle, "Sascia! Out! Indira! Out!"

The two girls weren't fast enough it seemed, and they rubbed where they were hit as they skulked off the court, Indira holding her arm, and Sascia her back.

Ajay looked at Ruby as the Bass had run out of balls, "What do we do now?"

Ruby shrugged and looked at Bella, who thought for a second, "He can't dodge three at once?"

Ruby grinned, "Ooh, I like that. On me." The three remaining Gophers picked up a ball each and stared Ivan down. For the first time since the competition started, there was a hint of doubt in Ivan's eyes. He faltered. Ruby grinned, "Go!"

All three hurled a ball at Ivan, one at his legs, one towards his chest, and one at his head. He managed to grab the one hurtling to his face, but was hit in the gut, then taken out at the knees, falling down onto his belly. The Bass stood, dumbfounded. Chef broke the eerie silence, "Ivan! Out!"

"The giant has fallen for the first time! I do not believe it!" Chris said, holding a mic as if imitating a sports commentator.

"Ouchie." Ivan said, before leaping to his feet, "Good play. But there will be no next time."

"Oh, and Bella! Out!" Chef added, "Sorry, forgot."

"Huh?" Bella ejaculated, raising her arms in frustration.

"He caught the ball. Sorry, you're out. Bass can bring a different player on."

"Alright!" Elijah said, getting up before Lucas pushed him down.

"Yeah, right, they need me now."

"Is that allowed?" Ruby appealed to Chef.

He nodded, "It just can't be Ivan."

Ruby sneered, "Alright then. Let's do this Ajay. Ajay?"

Ajay himself was sweating and trembling, "D-did you hear what Ivan said? What happens next time?"  
Ruby walked over and slapped him, "Get it together. Don't worry about next time!"

He blinked, "Oh… Um, sorry. Yeah, let's get it."

Suddenly a ball came between them. They whirled to see Lucas tossing and catching a ball in one hand, "Y'all remember there's a game being played, right?"

"Do you?" Ruby asked, approaching the centre, ball in hand, "Cause if that weren't a warning shot I ain't scared at all.

Before Lucas could respond she launched the ball directly into his crotch. He doubled over in pain, whimpering. "Lucas! Out! Again!" Chef called, as Lucas rolled off the court, pathetically.

"I'll get you for that!" he whined, in a much higher voice than usual.

 **Confessional**

Ruby: *Grinning... Right where it hurts

Lucas: So… She'll pay for that… There was dust in my eye that's the only reason I missed that first shot. I was going for getting both of them… Yeah…

 **End**

Lee, Sabrina and Oswald watched him roll away, then turned to stare at Ruby, eyes wide, hearts beating. Ronald stood around looking outside at the lake. Lee noticed him out the corner of her eye, and then Ajay lining up a shot at the unsuspecting boy. "Ronald! Dodge!" she called.

Ronald turned to see Ajay, and the ball coming towards him, "Dodge…" he whispered, before bending over backwards as the ball sailed right over him.

Everyone's jaw fell open. "Oh damn…" Sabrina muttered.

"Since when could he do that?" Clive asked, to no one in particular.

 **Confessional**

Elijah: I always knew my boy could do it! I mean, I didn't, no way, I had no clue but hell yeah!

Oswald: Turns out Ronald's a badass. Who knew?

Ronald: Ronald...

 **End**

There was a short silence, interrupted by "Yeah! That's my boy!" as Elijah stood up and applauded his friend, "Let's go Ronald! Dodge!"

"Dodge." he agreed, bending his knees and staring Ajay down. Ajay furrowed his brow and picked up another ball. This one Ronald easily jumped over. Ruby found a ball and aimed at his chest. He span out of the way.

"Get it boy!" Elijah cheered.

"Go Ronald!" Ysabel cheered.

Ronald steeled his jaw and cracked his neck, "Ronald…"

Lee, Oswald and Sabrina began returning fire, and Ajay and Ruby began weaving through the balls tossed their way. Ajay clipped Lee with a wayward shot, and Ruby managed to knock the ball off of Oswald's back and into Sabrina. "Lee! Oswald! Sabrina! Out!" Chef determined.

"That counts?" Sabrina asked.

"Didn't hit the floor, that's a live ball." Chef deemed.

Sabrina shrugged, "Can't argue with that. Otherwise I'll get eliminated anyway." Chef nodded, and the three left the court, leaving just Ronald, staring the Gophers down.

Ajay and Ruby both picked up their last ball each, "He can't dodge two." Ajay said to Ruby. She grinned and nodded.

"On me." They lined up their shots. "Go!" Ruby called, and they threw. Ronald bent his body away from one shot, and his legs away from the other.

"Oh damn…" Nate uttered from the bench.

"Okay, turns out he can dodge two." Ajay admitted. Ruby turned but all the balls were now on the Bass' side of the court. But Ronald had not moved, and kept gazing directly into Ajay's eyes.

"Ronald!" Elijah called from the sideline, "Throw the ball!"

"Throw…" Ronald repeated, picking up a ball and walking towards the centre line. Ajay gulped and took a few steps back. Ronald squinted, and then threw the ball weakly, underarm, directly to Ajay's hands. Ajay easily caught it, turned to Ruby and shrugged.

"Ronald! Out! Gophers win! 1-0. Next game starts in two minutes!" Chef called. The Gophers bench leapt into celebration, with the exception of Gabriel, who was still lying on the back bench, finally asleep. Lucas stamped on the floor and kicked at the bench.

"Hey, man, if it helps," Sabrina put a hand on his shoulder, "it's still possible for there to be only three games." Lucas just glared at her.

Ronald waddled off the field, smiling. He was met with disappointed faces from Ivan, Lee and Elijah, and one of pure rage from Lucas. He stormed up to him and grabbed him by the shoulders, "Next time! Howsabout you throw it so they can't catch it!"

"Oh that's what I was supposed to do." Ronald nodded slowly.

"I 100% believe he didn't know that." Elijah stuck his hand up. Oswald nodded, and Lee shrugged.

"Just leave him alone." Lee got between Ronald and Lucas, "You saw how he can dodge. He did a really good job."

"Thank you." Ronald beamed.

Lee turned to Lucas, also smiling, "See? We've also got like two more games to win at least one. It's just the first game."

Lucas scowled, before finally giving in, "Alright fine! Who's on the team this time?"

 **Confessional**

Lucas: Man, I guess I have to be super nice all the time in order to get into Lee's good books or whatever. He blew the game! Come on… Like he understood what I was saying…

Ronald: I did good!

Ophelia: So my dumb team blew the first game. God… This show would be so much better without teams.

 **End**

"Who didn't play last time?" Lee asked. Ysabel and Josh raised their hands warily, not totally committed to being smacked in the face with balls. Elijah also stuck his up, resolute. Ophelia ignored the call.

Lucas looked around, "Okay, alright, everyone that didn't play last time get on the court." Elijah, Ysabel and Josh bounded past him, Josh's knees knocking together lightly. Lucas looked back at the bench, "You too goth girl, I ain't stupid."

"No way." Ophelia grit her teeth.

"Why not?" Lee asked, concerned.

Ophelia thought for a second, "I'm still tired from last night." She feigned a yawn.

"But you aren't!" Sabrina protested, "You specifically told us!"

"I was just showing off." she spat back, "I'm totally tired."

"Whatever." Sabrina sighed, "Not my problem."

"Okay, whatever." Lucas waved it off, "That means we default to the best three, that's me, Lee and Ivan."

"Is it?" Oswald asked.

"Is it?" Lee asked.

"Yes, it is." Lucas stood steadfast, "Now, we better get out there."

The Gophers had a similar conundrum, as Louise piped up, "Hey, I didn't get a chance to play last time so can I like… Do that?"

Ruby frowned, "Yeah, I guess so? Who else is in?" Only Nate stuck his hand up. "No one else?" Ruby asked, glaring at the others.

"We just figured we'd make sure everyone else gets a chance to go." Ajay shrugged.

"Alright, but we can't have a team of two, can we?"

"Who else wants to go, that was on last time?" Bella asked, interrupting.

Ajay, Indira and Edwin volunteered. Ruby nodded, "Alright, us four then."

"Ahem?" Bella raised an eyebrow.

"You'll get another chance." Ruby waved her off, as the next team took the court.

"Whatever." Bella sneered, sitting down next to Clive. She looked at him, "Why don't you want to go on."

"I will," he nodded slowly, "just later."

Bella laughed lightly, "Okay." Then, she turned all the way back, seeing Gabriel asleep on the top bench. Softly, she stepped up towards him, and sat down at his feet, peering over him. "Hey…" she whispered. No response. "Hey." she insisted.

His eyes blinked open, "Huh? What? Did we win?"

"We're only one game in."

"One game…?"

"Oh, we're playing dodgeball."

"Sweet." he murmured, closing his eyes again.

"No!" she swiftly slapped him, "You've gotta stay awake. We may need you."

"Well you don't yet… Please. I got no sleep. And then… Y'know..." he started drifting off.

"Guilty conscience?" she smirked. His eyes shot open, and he sat up. "Who else wanted Lisa gone?"

He grimaced, "I had to. Would've just gotten worse."

"Keep telling yourself that." she smiled sweetly, "We're at the bottom if you need us."

He grunted, and closed his eyes, but cracked them open to watch her head back down. He breathed deeply, and let himself fall asleep once again.

As the teams lined up, Chef blew his whistle again, and again the teams rushed forward. Lucas picked up another ball and was about to hurl it at a Gopher, until he realised it would've been Indira again, and she was grinning at him, "Oh, no not falling for that agai-" he sneered, before Indira launched a ball at his legs, knocking him over with an "Oof!"

"Lucas! Out!"

"Aw, come on, man!" he complained. Indira giggled lightly, stepping back. "I'll get you next time I promise." he shook his fist at her. She stuck her tongue out at him in response.

 **Confessional**

Indira: Oh man that was so fun. Did you see the look on his face? Classic.

Lucas: … I just got unlucky, okay? I could've won the whole thing if not for that.

 **End**

Again, balls were fed to Ivan, as he continued to rocket them at any Gophers hapless enough to be in his way. The other Bass mostly dodged around, as the Gophers lazily threw balls back, hoping to get a leg shot, or to clip a heel. Edwin chucked one at Elijah, just missing him, "Ha ha!" Elijah laughed, as he danced out the way. Ivan turned, and launched one at Edwin.

"No!" Louise yelled, leaping in front of Edwin and expertly catching the ball as she fell to the ground.

"Ivan! Out!"

"Chto?" Ivan cried in agony, ashamed at having been beaten again.

"Wow, great catch, Lou." Edwin said, crouching down to help her up.

She grinned up at him, "I told you I was good."

Edwin thought for a second, "No you didn't."

"Well I am." she smiled. Just then three balls arrived on the scene, hitting Edwin in the chest, Louise in the leg, and Edwin in the face again.

"Ow!" he squealed.

"Sorry!" Lee called from across the court.

"Edwin! Louise! Out!" Chef ruled.

"Ugh!" Ruby complained, turning and hurling her ball at Elijah, who again managed to barely dodge it as it whizzed past his back.

"Wow, you're good Elijah." Lee complimented him, never taking her eyes away from the Gophers.

"Thanks, it's the four years of ballet training." he replied.

"Really?" she asked.

He turned and smirked, "No, not really." He was immediately smacked in the temple by another dodgeball.

"Elijah! Out!"

"Damn." he muttered.

"Hey we get another chance?" Lee smiled. He tried to smile back, but just shuffled away off the court.

Ysabel and Josh stood next to each other on the other side, being pelted with balls from Nate and Ajay. Josh was continuously deflecting the balls with one he was holding, as Ysabel ducked and dipped behind him. "Come on Iz," Nate smirked, "stop delaying the inevitable."

Josh's nostrils flared up. Ysabel stepped out from behind him and smiled. "If you were good enough you would've come and got me already." she taunted.

"Oh I'm good enough." Nate said, "Watch thi-"

There was a mighty _CRACK_ as Josh speedballed his throw into Nate's face, knocking him to the floor.

"Nate! Out! If you can hear me…" Chef yelled, sitting forward in his seat.

"I think he might've killed him…" Bella whispered to Clive. Clive simply smirked.

"Wow, Josh." Ysabel said, mouth agape, "I never knew you were so strong."

"Yeah… Well… I am…" he replied, breathing heavily.

"Okay, get him out immediately." Ruby whispered to Ajay, who nodded. He moved forward but she grabbed his arm for a second, "Maybe get Nate off the court first."

"On it!" Chris called, running over to the side with a medic. Luckily Nate was not dead, and blinked his eyes open.

"W-what happened?" he asked, dazed.

"You'll be alright dude," Chris smiled reassuringly, "we've just gotta get you to the medical tent for a second okay?"

"Yay, trip time." Nate muttered, delirious.

"Trip time, buddy." Chris nodded, as the medics led the boy out. Then he turned to Chef, "Okay, you're good you can start playing again."

Chef nodded and blew his whistle, "Play on!"

The three remaining members of each team stared each other down. Quickly, Josh picked up a ball and threw all the way across court at Indira, smacking her in the side.

"Indira! Out!" Chef called.

"Aw…" she mumbled, shuffling off the court, where Sascia greeted her with a hand on the back.

Josh fist pumped in celebration, but was caught off guard by Ajay, who hit him immediately afterwards.

"Josh! Out!"

Ruby stared down Lee, as Ajay faced off with Ysabel, everyone waiting for the other to make the first move. Ysabel flinched. Ajay threw his shot, which was deftly caught by Ysabel. She looked as shocked as Ajay did.

"Ajay! Out!"

"What?" Ruby whipped 'round, and Lee saw her chance, hitting her square in the thigh.

"Ruby! Out! Bass win! 1-1!" Chef called out, ending the round, "Two minutes, guys!"

"Hey I did it!" Lee called to the sideline, arms in the air.

"We did it!" Ysabel appeared behind her, hugging her, "We won!"

"Hmph, not yet." Lucas warned, "But keep it up. Just two more."

"Can't you just, like, enjoy things, man?" Sabrina asked.

"Not yet." he squinted at the Gophers, "Who's up next?"

"Ooh, I want back in!" Ysabel stuck her hand up, "I didn't know it would be so much fun!"  
"Me too!" Elijah agreed.

"Fine, so it's Ysabel, Elijah and one more?"

"One?" Sabrina asked.

"Yeah, cause, like, you gotta have me, Ivan and Lee."

"Actually, I reckon I'll sit this one out." Lee said, sitting down.

"But, come on." Lucas whinged, "You won the last one for us!"

"And you did nothing!" Sabrina said. "I'm in for this one. So's Oswald."

"I am?" he asked.

"Yeah, of course."

"Neat." he smiled.

"Okay, but Ophelia still hasn't contributed yet!" Lucas said, clutching at straws.

"Wouldn't want to ruin your streak of going out first." Ophelia replied.

Lucas grimaced, "Fine, you go in. See how you like it."

"Fine." she scowled, as the six took to the court.

 **Confessional**

Ophelia: Ooh, he's getting on my nerves now. I hope we lose now. I'll send him home.

Lee: Why does Lucas insist on showing off and being the big man… I mean… Everyone else is playing fair?

 **End**

"Great," Ruby flung her hand in the air, pacing, "now we're tied and a man down!"

"Two men down." Clive pointed to the back bench.

"You're right. Maybe it's time to wake him up!" Ruby said through gritted teeth.

"Not yet." Bella stood up in her face, "We won the first one without him and Nate. We'll do it again."

"Fine." she whispered back, "But Clive's got to play this time."

"Can do." he stood up and dusted himself off.

"... Okay." Ruby squinted her eyes at him, suspicious. "Who else?"

"I don't want to get hit in the face again…" Elijah admitted.

"I'll sit this one out with him!" Louise offered, hanging off of his shoulder.

"Okay then. Everyone else on. Let's go." Ruby clapped her hands.

The teams lined up again, and for the third time Chef blew the whistle to start the game. The teams were more apprehensive to begin with, and few balls were thrown, as they sized each other up and threw a few warning shots. Ivan picked up a ball rolled to his feet and flung it towards Ajay who ducked and raised a ball to cover his face, successfully deflecting the ball straight into Edwin's face.

"Aw come on!" he screamed, ducking behind the bench for cover.

"Sorry!" Ivan called back, genuinely remorseful. This was the opening Indira was searching for. She fired a shot into Ivan's stomach which he somehow kept to his body as he stumbled back.

"Indira! Out!" Chef called.

"One down five to go!" Lucas yelled from the sideline, pacing up and down, making various hand signals.

"You're not a coach." Sabrina hissed, but he ignored her.

"Go for the nerd!" he yelled.

Ivan nodded and chucked the ball he'd just caught at Clive, who dived out of the way. Seeing her chance. Ysabel tossed one to him as he was lying on the floor, which he just managed to scuttle away from. Sabrina also tossed one his way, which he, again, dodged. Finally, Ophelia lightly tossed one his way, which he flipped onto his back for, catching it handily.

"Ophelia! Out! New Gopher in!" Chef called as Indira leapt off the bench.

"What was that?" Lucas screamed from the sideline.

Ophelia shrugged, "About as good as you've been."

"At least I try!" he fumed.

"That should be even more embarrassing." she smirked, walking past him.

"Ajay! Out!" Chef called, as Ysabel had managed to snag a stray ball out of the air that came near her, "New Bass! In!"

"Right I'll show you!" Lucas said, stepping out onto the court, where he was immediately hit by Ruby, who grinned right back at him, eyes crazed.

"Lucas! Out!"

"Trying, are ya?" Ophelia asked.

"Shut up." he spat, sitting down.

Ivan grit his teeth and let another ball fly, hitting Sascia in the chest. Oswald saw the big man make the throw, and pinged one at Indira, temporarily distracted.

"Sascia! Out! Indira! Out!" Chef monitored, eyes fixated on the game, "Man, I ain't had this much fun since '02…"

Ruby growled, and threw a ball wildly, which was again caught by Ysabel.

"Ruby! Out!"

"How are you so good at this?" she asked, incredulously, as she wandered to the bench, and Ronald stumbled onto the court, pushed by Lucas.

"She's always been-" Elijah began.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence or this is going somewhere you really don't want it to go." Ysabel threatened, bouncing the ball. Elijah gulped and turned around, to be immediately hit in the face by a ball thrown by Bella.

"Elijah! Out!"

"Ouch…" he complained, "And that ball hurt too…" he said as he passed Ysabel off the court.

"Oh you ain't seen hurt yet, babe." she said, her face deadly serious. He shuddered.

 **Confessional**

Elijah: No, I don't doubt in the slightest she could hurt me… When did she get so scary?

Ysabel: I don't lose much. It's because I love winning.

 **End**

The odds were stacked against the Gophers, at the wrong end of a two-man advantage. Sabrina and Oswald grinned as they aimed shots at Clive. He stared them down, unblinking, ready to dodge at a moment's notice. One came in, he slid away, another, and he span back, then a third a little to his left. He reached out to catch it, but it was slightly out of reach, the ball smacking his hands and falling out of his grip.

"Clive! Out!"

"Damnit!" he yelled, causing a shock around the room with his sudden burst of anger.

"It-it's good man," Bella said, hustling him off, "you'll get 'em next time."

Suddenly it was 4 on 1. Bella sighed, and prepared for the barrage. And indeed, four balls came in at the same time, and though she avoided two hits to the face, one ball found her arm, and another her leg.

"Bella! Out! Bass win! 2-1!" Chef announced, "Five minutes, take a longer break."

"There are only two games maximum remaining, campers!" Chris announced, "Bass, one game off of victory, but it's by no means over! Prepare well for this one, and good luck!"

"You just wanted something to say didn't you?" Chef smirked down at his friend.

"I mean I've got nothing to do this is your episode, man." Chris shrugged, "They'll probably cut that line anyway."

"Cut the face of this show for this ugly mug?" he gestured to his own face, "Doubt it."

They both laughed for a second, then Chris remembered, "Oh, I better check on the med-tent boy. Catch you in five!"

"Yeah you don't wanna miss this one!" Chef called over his shoulder as Chris hurried out of the arena.

"Right, so we've got to play our best team this round, right?" Lucas said, exasperated.

"Aw, you still think that includes you, don't you?" Sabrina replied.

"How about," Lee attempted to alleviate any conflict, "we just play the people that want to play. We have a free game. If we win we win, if we lose, we can still win."

"Do we want to risk that?" Oswald asked.

"I am tired." Ivan offered, "I would like game's rest."

"Guess we are risking it," Lucas commented.

"Great!" Lee beamed, "So who's up for it?"

Ysabel, Elijah, and Ronald immediately popped up, "I don't think I ever wanna stop playing dodgeball!" Ysabel grinned.

"Okay," Lee smiled, "so you three, me… Two more?"

Sabrina stood up, and after a second of looking around, Josh got up too, "Yeah… I think I could."

"Just don't hulk out this time." Elijah suggested. Josh looked down at the floor.

"Brilliant." Lee smiled, "I love it! Let's win this, team!"

The Gophers were in full panic mode. "We've got to win this or we lose!" Ruby hissed, trying not to be heard by the Bass.

"Yeah, if only we had a secret weapon they've never seen before." Clive mused sarcastically, and they all turned their heads to the back.

Bella sighed, "Yeah, I guess we need him…" She crept up to the top and shook him awake, "Hey, dude, we need a win now. We need your help, are you good at dodgeball."

"I mean, decent." he blinked, "I won a regional qualifier once?"

"That'll do." she started walking away, but sighed and turned, "Are you good to do this?"  
"Of course." he yawned, clambering up, "I don't wanna get kicked off."

She half-smiled, "Alright then. You're up then."

"... Alright." he smiled, sitting up. Then, slapping his thighs, he stood up and walked down, "Hey, guys, who's up for an upset, come-from-behind victory?"

"You better be." Ruby folded her arms.

"I… Am?" he said, confused.

"... Good." she said.

"Who's up for this?" he asked.

Clive began to open his mouth, but Ruby took the opportunity before he could, "You, me, Bella, Clive, Louise, and Ajay."

"Okay then. Let's get it going." he clapped his hands and led everyone onto the court.

As they lined up, Gabriel found himself opposite Lee. She looked up and noticed him, smiling intensely. He half-smiled and waved lazily back. She giggled, and looked at the floor before meeting his eyes again. He mouthed at her, 'Sorry. I have to beat you.' She rolled her eyes and mouthed back, 'Try me'. And then Chef blew his whistle.

Immediately, he rushed forward picked up a ball, and slung it at Lee's legs, making it curve in mid air slightly, hitting the side of her shin.

"Lee! Out!" Chef called, eyes wide.

"We have seen a lot of impressive stuff today…" Chris commentated, "But that is up there with the best."

Lee looked up, in complete shock. Gabriel smirked back, "Time to get off the court."

She blushed, suppressing a smile, and hurried off, covering her head from projectiles. Lucas met her on the sideline, "Okay… Even I can't be mad at that. Get him!"

Josh hurled one at Gabriel's head, who plucked it out the air, then effortlessly tossed it right back at Ysabel, striking her arm as she tried to catch it.

"Josh! Out! Ysabel! Out!"

"What the hell…" Josh mumbled, almost speechless.

"Hello…" Ysabel purred, "I have no regrets at all." Josh blushed again and wrapped an arm around her as he hurried them off the court.

"Where did you learn this?" Ruby asked him.

"Pure blind luck do not overthink this." he replied, "I am as impressed as you are."

Elijah and Sabrina looked at each other, and shrugged.

"Ronald! Out!" Chef announced, as a ball bounced off of Ronald's chest.

"Oh, we forgot to tell him to dodge…" Elijah nodded.

"Hmm…" Sabrina acknowledged turning around just in time to see Ajay hurl a ball at the two of them, "Watch out!"

But it was too late, it bounced off of Elijah's chest onto Sabrina's leg and the round was over.

"Bass! Out! Gophers win! 2-2! It's time for a sudden death game! Three minutes!"

 **Confessional**

Gabriel: Okay, I have never been that good. I guess my need to win outweighs my normal physical skill… Neat.

Ysabel: That was so hot.

Lee: I. Am. Shellshocked.

Clive: I mean, what was that? What was that?

 **End**

"Okay, that was unlucky." Lucas began, "They caught us unprepared is all. We weren't expecting that."

"Damn right we weren't." Sabrina nodded, "I don't think he was."

"So," he continued, "It's do or die now. We gotta get this done. Who's up for the challenge?"

Everyone stuck their hands up. Save one. Ophelia kept her hand down. Lucas looked over at her, "A reason you're not up for it?"

"I won't be a help. You kidding me?" Ophelia sneered, "Get the meatheads to do it."

"Well you better hope we don't lose now, yeah?" Ysabel scowled, getting up, "I'm gonna play. And we're gonna win."

"Good." Lucas said. "Ysabel, Ivan, Elijah, Lee, Ronald, Sabrina. You guys get out there and get that win."

"Not yourself?" Sabrina blinked.

Lucas sighed, "It's for the good of the team. You guys'll kill it. I know it."

"Alright!" Elijah said, jumping up and putting his hand in the centre, "Go team!"

The six players and Lucas stuck their hands in, "Go team!"

Oswald and Josh cheered from the seating, "Let's go Bass! Let's go Bass."

Lucas smiled at his squad, "Go out there and kick some ass."

"Okay guys, I reckon we got 'em running scared now." Gabriel nodded, addressing the team, "They ain't expect that. They won't expect us again."

"Hell yeah!" Edwin shouted, then "Ow!" as he grabbed at his eye again.

"So…" Ruby continued the address, "What we do is we go out there, and we just punch 'em in the mouth one more time and finish this win."

"Just finish the comeback. No problem." Gabriel smiled. "Who wants to be out there?"

Bella stood up, and so did Louise. Shakily, Indira also stepped forward. But Clive and Ajay stayed seated.

"Guys," Gabriel said, "this is just five?"

"I… I just don't think I'm gonna be help out there…" Clive admitted. Ajay nodded, head bowed.

"Hey, lads… I believe in you." he smiled. "I trust you. I trust you to help us win."

Clive looked up, and smiled, "If you say so. Let's get this win."

At that point, Nate wandered back in, head bandaged, "What did I miss?"

"Nate!" Sascia ran up to him to help him, "We've tied it up 2-2. One game left."

"I, y'know, I can walk." he smiled. Sascia blushed. "But thanks."

"Hey Nate," Gabriel said, "What happened to the head?"

"Got concussed!" Nate said, mock-celebrating, "Josh threw a ball like so hard at my head."

"Yeah makes sense." he nodded. "You don't know how much I wanna nail that guy with a pot shot."

"You may yet get a chance." Bella smiled, pushing him towards the court, "Right now. We have to go right now."

"Go team!" Nate called from the bleacher, "Kick some ass!"

Everyone lined up, faces blank, eyes trained on the red balls in the centre. They strained to start moving. Chef raised the whistle to his lips one last time. And blew. One final match.

Everyone scrambled for a ball, then immediately fell back, taking their time. Bella took a cautious shot, aiming low at Ivan, but he easily deflected it, and wound back, catapulting the ball at Louise, who dodged it by a whisker.

Ysabel slung one low at Clive, who jumped over and at the same time, flung his ball at Elijah, who managed to spin out of the way as well. The match had started slow, but someone had to crack soon. A bead of sweat appeared on Gabriel's forehead. He noticed Sabrina sneaking closer out the corner of his eye. She fired and he immediately dropped his ball and caught the one she'd thrown.

"Sabrina! Out!"

"Good move…" she acknowledged. He nodded, then dropped back to avoid an easy targeting. Lee looked around, and nudged Elijah, who was standing next to her, "Let's go for Louise, I go high, you go low."

"Gotcha." he whispered back, readying his arm. Lee aimed just out of Louise's reach, and she jumped for it, trying to make a catch. At the same time Elijah threw at her stomach. With arms outstretched in midair, Louise was defenseless, and was struck, hard.

"Louise! Out!

She fell to the floor, catching herself in time. When she looked up she was still smiling, "Good tactic…" Lee and Elijah high-fived.

Ysabel began picking on Clive more, lining up three balls hurling them one at a time. The first one flew past his ear, and he called out, "Ruby! Ball!" she whipped around, and as the second one whizzed through his legs, she sprinted across. The third ball was tossed at his head. Clive avoided it deftly, and as it passed his head, Ruby made the catch.

"Ysabel! Out! New Bass! In!" Indira got up and sprinted to centre court to pick up a ball.

Instantly, Ivan rocketed one across the court, just skimming Ajay, and taking a quick ball deflection from Indira to prevent further damage.

"Ajay! Out!"

Gabriel scowled, and aimed a curler at Ivan's legs. It smashed into his shin, taking him down, but Lee was right there with a counter, a splitter to his foot, catching him perfectly. However, it bounced up in the air. "Ball!" Gabriel called as it slowly came towards the ground. Indira reached out for a catch but in the end, the ball just grazed her fingertip, resulting in a double elimination.

"Ivan! Gabriel! Indira! Out!"

"Yes!" Lee celebrated, winking at Gabriel, who rolled his eyes and walked to the sidelines.

"If there's a catch, I'm in." he asserted. The bench nodded, happy to let him continue, completely engrossed in the action.

"Get 'em, Lee!" Lucas cheered. Lee looked over and stuck a thumbs up at him. Ruby saw her chance and took a shot.

"No!" Ronald yelled, leaping into the way to take the ball before Lee. It crashed into his chest, and he fell to the floor.

"Ronald! Out!"

"Ronald…" Lee placed a hand on her heart, "You saved me."

"Win…" he squeezed out, as he toddled off the court. She nodded, picked up the ball and went to Elijah.

"You and me vs the world?"

"Just the way I like it."

"Get Ruby down." Lee said, determined, her jaw set.

"Can do. Two at a time."

"Two at a time." she nodded. "3… 2… Go!"

They launched their balls at Ruby, who tried to bend her body but ended up slipping and crashing to the floor as Elijah's ball landed on her foot.

"Ruby! Out!"

She growled and got up. "Make a catch, guys!" she said over her shoulder as she left.

Clive nodded. But Lee and Elijah had other plans. They stood opposite the Gophers. Lee vs Bella, Elijah vs Clive. Clive stared Elijah down. That was when Lee threw at him. And Elijah at Bella.

Clive was caught unaware, slapped broadside by an outside curving ball from Lee, but Bella saw the ruse. She turned and caught Elijah's ball, and Gabriel ran onto the court, as Lee picked up another ball and heaved it at Bella, catching her in the shoulder.

"Clive! Elijah! Bella! Out! One new Gopher in! Sudden Death!" Chef announced, excitedly, as Lee and Gabriel sized each other up.

"Come on then," Gabriel said, smiling, "let's get it over with."

"No problem." she grinned, bouncing a ball, then aiming it at his shin. He sidestepped casually, then made a gesture that said 'Come at me'.

She frowned a little. Quick as a whip, she launched one at his head, but he ducked and bowled one straight at her stomach. In a panic, she leapt sideways, landing on her feet and a hand for extra support. "Superhero landing…" Elijah whispered.

Gabriel took one last chance. Another curling shot, at her elbow. Lee twisted her body sideways, and watched the ball past. The tension in the air was palpable. The glass arena was dead quiet. No one dared say a word. No one dared breathe. Even Chris, for once, was speechless.

Lee picked up a ball. "My turn." she smiled. She slung a curving ball at his face. Gabriel steeled his eyes and leant back, bending at the knees. As the ball flew over him, he reached up and picked it straight out of the air. He landed on his back, and held it aloft. And all was silent.

"Lee! Out! Gophers win! 3-2! Game, Set and Match Gophers!" Chef almost screamed, breaking what seemed like an eternity of silence. Then the Gophers erupted, flooding the pitch to slap Gabriel's arms and hug him from every angle. The Bass sat, disappointed and dejected.

"I don't think I can even be mad…" Ysabel said, weakly. Lucas nodded.

"At least we had fun?" Elijah suggested.

"Speak for yourself." Ophelia spat, "Losing is not fun." She got up and left, fists balled, face red.

Lucas shook his head as she left, "Well I know how I'm voting."

On the court, Gabriel somehow escaped the crush of his teammates, backing up slightly as they hugged and cheered amongst themselves. Suddenly, someone was hugging him from behind. "Oh, God I thought we voted you out!" he blurted.

"It's me, silly." Lee smiled. She released him and he turned.

"Oh, yeah, of course." he blushed. "Um, good game wasn't it."

"Great game." she beamed, sticking out a hand.

"I reckon we're past handshakes." he smiled. She looked at the floor for a second, before wrapping her arms around him again.

"9 times out of 10 I beat you though." she whispered.

"Oh ho ho," he pulled back, hands on her shoulders, "I don't 100% believe that, I'll tell you."

"Want me to prove it?"

"I'd like to experiment. I mean-"

"I get it." she giggled, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"I hope so." he half-smiled, "You've got an elimination ceremony to get through first."

She sighed, "I know… I don't know what-"

"Lee!" Lucas ran over to them, "We've got stuff to discuss, yes?"

"I guess…" she frowned, "I'll see you around."

"I'm not going anywhere." Gabriel nodded. Lucas practically dragged Lee away, so he sighed, and turned to his team, who were all watching him. "Sportsmanship." he dismissed it.

Most of the team shrugged it off, and retired to the cabins for a long, good afternoon. Except Bella, who waited for him, smirking. "What is it?" he asked, rolling his eyes.

"Lotta distractions aren't there?" she teased.

"And that's why Lisa's gone." he said, bluntly.

She raised an eyebrow, "I wonder if you could do the same for Lee." Gabriel opened his mouth… Then shut it again. "Thought so." she smiled.

"What do you want?"

"Leverage." she replied, before following the team out to celebrate. Gabriel stood, thinking for a second, before heading out after her, keeping his dodgeball as a souvenir.

 **Confessional**

Bella: You know what they say: knowledge is power. Imagine if Ruby could hear this. If she hasn't already figured it out...

Gabriel: So that was a nice moment… For like a moment.

Lee: Ooh, I wish I'd hit him. I can't imagine what that would've been like.

Lucas: As much as it hurts me to say I don't trust Lee when Gabriel's involved. That's not right.

Elijah: Did you see how close I was to winning it? Like this close…

 **End**

Later, in the Bass girls' cabin, Lee and Ysabel were sitting alone, waiting for the elimination ceremony. Lee looked up at Ysabel, varnishing her nails, "Who… Who are you voting for?"

"Me? Probably Ophelia."

"Why?"

"Did we do the same challenge?" she laughed, almost bitterly.

"I would've thought the girls would… Y'know, stick together?"

"So who would you have voted for?"

"I don't want to vote anyone off."

"You're on the wrong TV show, babe." she blew on her nails. "Besides, it's already six guys to four girls. We're already outnumbered, what difference does one make?"

"I guess I see that…" Lee looked down at her hands.

"And… Y'know… We won't lose much."

"Huh?"

"I know I'm not gonna miss her in the mornings."

"We've been here two days."

"And I already hate it, imagine another twenty."

Outside, Sabrina was wrapping up a conversation with Lucas, "So, like, vote for Ophelia, yeah?"

"I already said yes." Sabrina rolled her eyes, "Can I go now?"

"I'm just making sure." Lucas said, without a hint of humour.

"Why are you so paranoid?" she probed.

"Everyone was… Like… A little hard on me today."

"Do you know why?" she grinned sarcastically.

"Cause… Cause I was being a jerk, I know… I'm sorry."

"Uh huh, sure, whatever, if you think about it too much it'll only get worse." she said over her shoulder as she strode into her cabin, "A-Good night."

"We're gonna see each other later!" he called. "I mean… You probably can't hear me through the door."

"Hey, sailor." came a voice from behind him.

"Huh?" he jumped, whipping around, "Oh. It's you. Come to gloat some more?"

Indira stood a good half foot taller than him, grinning wide, arms folded, "No, I just wanted to say I hope you don't get eliminated tonight."

"You… You don't?" he said, taken aback.

"Course not," she laughed, "I would really miss kicking your ass."

"Oh okay," he chuckled, "so two outs in dodgeball is kicking my ass?"

"Is in my book." she shrugged.

"Oh I'll show you tomorrow." he crossed his arms, "You won't even see this coming."

"Oh I'm sure I won't." she ruffled his hair, "I'd need to look down."

"Hey! That's too far!" he huffed, flattening his hair.

"Sure it is." She turned on a heel and waved over her shoulder, "I look forward to it."

"I… Do… Too…" he trailed off. "What was that?"

Hours later, as evening fell, the ten Bass gathered at the campfire for their second elimination of the series. Chris arrived carrying a tray with nine marshmallows. The team collectively gulped. "Killer Bass. Glad to see you back here," Chris flashed his teeth for the cameras, "it's time for your second vote of the season. One unlucky member of the team will not receive a marshmallow. That person will be forced to walk the Dock of Shame, board the Boat of Losers, and will be forced to leave Total Drama Island and not come back. Ever!" Lucas shuddered. "Bass, it's time to cast your votes. Please enter the confessional."

One round of voting later, the Killer Bass sat around the fire, awaiting their fate. Chris looked each and every one of them in the eye, before picking up the first marshmallow. He inspected it, squeezed it and held it up to his eye, "For his awesome dodging skills… This first marshmallow goes to Ronald." There was a smattering of applause as Ronald wandered up to grab the sweet treat, immediately shoving it in his mouth.

"Next… Ivan… Elijah… Lee." Each one breathed a sigh of relief and collected their immunity, Elijah high-fiving Ronald behind Chris.

"Oswald… Ysabel… Sabrina… Josh…" One by one they all walked up and lined up behind Chris. Only Lucas and Ophelia were left sitting.

"Lucas… Ophelia… Your team feels both of you let them down today… That is why you are the final two sitting… Lucas, you tried too hard. Ophelia, you didn't try. But nonetheless, one of you annoyed the team more than the other… And the less annoying loser, who gets to stay at least one more day on Total Drama Island…. Is…

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Lucas breathed out deeply, "Oh thank you… Thank you.." He raced up to pick up the last marshmallow.

Ophelia rolled her eyes, "Good."

"Good?" Chris asked.

"Good." she repeated. "This was so much worse than I ever expected. God, you all suck. Like a lot. I didn't wanna spend another second here anyway. I don't care. Good riddance." She crossed her arms, marched through her ex-teammates, and sat defiantly on the boat.

Chef looked back at her, "Did ya mean all that?"

She looked down, "Yes. Maybe. I don't know."

Chef nodded, "I getcha. Don't worry. You'll love where we're headed."

"Where are we going?" She leaned forward, curious.

"You'll see." Chef smiled.

Chris turned to a camera, with the boat disappearing over the horizon behind him, "Well, that was another episode of Total Drama Island! And I promise it gets even better next time! Want to find out how? Well you'll just have to tune in next time! On Total! Drama! Island!"

 **22nd: Lorelei**

 **21st: Lisa**

 **20th: Ophelia**

 **Screaming Gophers: Bella, Edwin, Gabriel, Ajay, Louise, Indira,** Lisa **, Ruby, Nate, Sascia, Clive**

 **Killer Bass: Ivan, Lee,** Lorelei **, Lucas, Elijah,** Ophelia **, Oswald, Ronald, Ysabel, Sabrina, Josh**

 **A/N: Yet another chapter in, well, this story. I'm sorry the chapters can be so long (I understand some people just don't want to read all of it) but there's a lot to stuff in a chapter, I feel. I do love doing it though, so expect more regardless. Anyway, don't forget to leave a review, tell me who you like, who you don't, if you have any predictions I'd love to hear 'em. What else? F/F? Whatever, just try and slog through 11,000 words I guess (Yes that's this chapter). Till next time. Out.**


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